Before there was Beaumont Tower or the MSU Union or even the Sparty statue, there was the Rock, a symbol of Spartan spirit.
A gift from the Class of 1873, the Rock is a 18,000-year-old pudding stone — yes pudding stone — that was left behind from a glacier.
The class began excavating the stone, located at the corner of Grand River and Michigan avenues.They dug it up, then relocated it using a team of 20 oxen to haul it north of the MSU Museum near where Beaumont Tower now stands.
Overnight, the stone sank below the surface of the ground. Eventually it was raised and inscribed with the words “Class of ’73” as a memento to the class’ senior year.
During the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, the Rock became known as the “Engagement Rock.” When a guy wanted to propose, he’d take his girlfriend to the Rock and pop the question.
A bench was even added in front of the Rock, and it was said that only engaged or married couples could sit there.
A man and woman are sitting on the bench, in front of “Engagement Rock,” while holding each others hands and foreheads touching, April 21, 1958. (Photo: Courtesy photo/Michigan State University Archives and Historical Collections)
he Rock became a political platform and billboard for different groups in the 1960s and 1970s.
Students held rallies and protests at the Rock, where they painted slogans and controversial messages, including obscenities offensive to some of the alumni.
In an attempt to fix this situation, and to keep it safe from more graffiti, the Rock was moved just outside the Department of Public Safety Building in September of 1977.
The move didn’t last long.
Due to complaints and outcry from the students, it was moved back to its original location near Beaumont Tower that same day.
In September of 1985, the Rock was moved to its current location on Farm Lane next to the Auditorium in an attempt to prevent the trees and sidewalks surrounding it from being damaged.
The informal rules for painting the rock go something like this: 1. Anyone can paint it. 2. But they really should paint it only at night. 3. If you’re not standing guard over what you painted, see Rule 1.
One of the most poignant moments in the history of the Rock occurred on the evening of September 11, 2001. Within hours of the September 11, 2001 attacks, virtually every activist group on campus, along with the university administration, had organized an impromtpu candlelight vigil at the floodplain next to the Rock. The Rock was painted green and white with the words “MSU students in remembrance and reflection” on the front, and an American flag on the back. Several thousand students attended. In a break from normal rock-painting etiquette, the university asked all campus groups to abstain from repainting the Rock for one week.
On Wednesday, April 9, 2014, at 9:00 pm, hundreds gathered at the rock to hold a vigil for Lacey Holsworth, dubbed “Princess Lacey”, a young 8-year-old girl, with terminal cancer, who befriended the MSU Basketball team and whose story was a source of inspiration nationwide. The rock was painted white, with “MSU Loves Princess Lacey” on the front, and “Love Like Lacey” on the base. Students then proceeded to sign the rock with a black sharpie, leaving their own personal messages to Lacey, who had passed that morning. Throughout Thursday, dozens of students an hour stopped at the rock, adding their names, leaving flowers, and paying their respects. A movement, highlighted by an article in the Detroit News, sought to ban all future painting of the rock, and to preserve it as a permanent memorial to Lacey. But by April 21, 2014, four days after her memorial, it was repainted with the message “Congratulations graduates, be a hero to someone” [1] marking the longest period, in recent history, that the rock had gone unchanged.
Sources:
“The Rock” – Gift of the Class of 1873
Stefanie Pohl, “New book celebrates tradition of the Rock“, MSU Today, April 12, 2017.
Vickki Dozier, “From the Archives: ‘The Rock’ at Michigan State University“, Lansing State Journal, February 7, 2018.