EAST LANSING, Mich. — The City of East Lansing and Michigan State University (MSU) welcome community members and MSU alumni to line the streets of East Lansing on Friday, Sept. 22 for this year’s MSU Homecoming Parade.
The 2023 MSU Homecoming Parade will begin at the intersection of Abbot Road and Burcham Drive at 6 p.m. Parade staging will take place in the parking lot of the East Lansing Hannah Community Center (ELHCC), 819 Abbot Road. Community members are advised that the ELHCC will close at noon on Friday to prepare for the parade, and the East Lansing Public Library, 950 Abbot Road will close at 2 p.m. that day.
Community members are encouraged to dress in their green-and-white gear and come out to line the streets of the parade route on Friday. Another way for community members to show their Spartan spirit is by participating in MSU’s Glow Green tradition by swapping out the bulb in a front porch light, window, room or any other light that glows with a green bulb.
The following streets and intersections will be closed on Friday to accommodate the parade route. Please note that roadway reopening times are approximate as roadways will not reopen until the last parade unit has passed through it.
- Westbound Burcham Drive between Abbot Road and Old Hickory Lane from 2:30-7:15 p.m. to accommodate high school band and fire truck staging. The roadway will be closed until the last parade unit has moved past Burcham Drive.
- Abbot Road from Burcham Drive to Grand River Avenue from 5:30-7:15 p.m. or until the last parade unit has moved off Grand River Avenue.
- Grand River Avenue between Abbot Road and Farm Lane from 5:30-7:15 p.m. or until the last parade unit has moved off Grand River Avenue.
Several streets in the area near the ELHCC will be closed on Friday for additional parade staging beginning at 2:30 p.m. and reopening at 7 p.m.:
- Abbot Road between Oxford Road on the west and Whitehills Drive on the east to Burcham Drive
- Centerlawn Avenue from Abbot Road to Forest Street
- Northlawn Avenue from Abbot Road to Forest Street
- Evergreen Avenue from Centerlawn Avenue to Northlawn Avenue
- Forest Street from Centerlawn Avenue to Northlawn Avenue
- Fern Street from Abbot Road to Evergreen Avenue
The Grand Marshal for this year’s Homecoming Parade is MSU class of ’82 graduate Molly Brennan. While an MSU student, Brennan was gifted both academically and athletically, earning a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship and being awarded MSU Sportswoman of the Year. Upon graduation, Brennan joined General Motors (GM) and played a pivotal role in GM’s victory in the first World Solar Challenge, as both an engineer and driver on the Sunraycer solar car team.
MSU is known for its global impact: MSU students come to East Lansing from all over the world and MSU graduates have gone on to make an impact in industries across the globe. While every MSU graduate has their own story with their own unique accomplishments, the one thing that unites all Spartans is coming home.