As dozens of Michigan State University faculty and administrators boarded a bus headed to Flint, Saginaw and Bay City for this spring’s Spartan Bus Tour, participants couldn’t have known that during their immersive two-day, 222-mile trip that they would be traveling through time.

Led by President Kevin M. Guskiewicz, Ph.D., the group — representing a wide range of backgrounds and disciplines — got an up-close, and often hands-on, experience with the people, industries and histories that helped shape this part of Michigan. Participants witnessed how MSU works alongside community partners to support economic development and agriculture, improve the health of youth and families, preserve culture and craft for future generations, and even help restore a beloved species of fish native to the Great Lakes.

“We had a chance to learn how deeply embedded MSU is in these communities and how their stories, people, traditions and partnerships have shaped both the state and the nation,” said Guskiewicz. “Over the course of our journey, we saw firsthand the impact of collaboration, resilience and community-driven work across the region.”

Along the way, participants were able to get to know colleagues they may never have met otherwise, learn directly from communities the university serves, and bring back memories and connections that will impact their work in meaningful ways.

“Many institutions talk about community embeddedness. This felt fundamentally different,” said Juan Mundel, associate dean for graduate studies and associate professor of advertising in the College of Communication Arts and Sciences. “The people we talked to in this region were not interested in simply receiving research findings after the fact — they want to help shape research questions, identify blind spots and participate in the design of the work from the beginning. Hearing their pride in this partnership was incredibly powerful.”

Day 1: Exploring shared histories

The first stop of the tour set a positive tone — and rhythm. At the Flint Development Center, Spartans were welcomed with a presentation by leaders of the Flint Freedom Schools Collaborative. Rooted in African traditions and the Children’s Defense Fund Freedom Schools model, the program promotes literacy, leadership and social-emotional development through culturally responsive teaching, music and movement.

“The lessons at Freedom School are designed to guide young students to become critical thinkers, to think better of themselves, to understand themselves, to love themselves and love other people,” said Pastor Sharon Sadler, with Flint’s Community-Based Organization Partners.

As part of a presentation about the school’s founding, history and purpose, Sadler led a group in one of the school’s affirmations, rooted in the African philosophy of Ubuntu: “I know me. I accept me. I love me. I forgive me. A higher power lives in me.”

Down the hall, another group took part in a drum lesson given by Kevin Collins, founder of the Kuungana African Drum and Dance Company. Collins and his group provide education on West African culture, including drumming, dancing and specialized workshops for all ages.

A short drive away, bus tour participants disembarked at the UAW Sitdowners Memorial Park. Ryan Buchalski of UAW Region 1D and Democracy Defense League activists Claire McClinton, a retired longtime General Motors employee, and Nayyirah Shariff, shared the history of the pivotal GM strike and its role in building the American middle class. Over 44 days in 1936–37, workers seized control of the GM plant in Flint and refused to leave until company officials recognized the United Auto Workers as the official bargaining agent for GM employees — a win that led to the unionization of the American auto industry.

“Welcome to Flint — we call ourselves Flintstones because we’re hard as rocks and tough as nails,” said McClinton, affectionately known to many Flint community members as Mama Claire. “I want to tell you about the sitdowners’ history because it was a victory for working people and it established the American middle class; I often wonder if we’ll rise to meet the current moment like they did back in 1937.”

“Growing up, everyone I knew was in the union, so for me, hearing the term solidarity — it isn’t just a word, it is a practice. It is a way of life,” added Shariff, one of the leaders of the grassroots group formed to confront Flint’s emergency manager during the Flint water crisis. “We all win or none of us do.”

Bus tour participant and Flint native Jeneen Hinkle got a new perspective on her hometown from the very start of the tour.

“The first two stops we made, at the Flint Development Center and the Sitdowners strike monument — even though I’m from Flint, I’ve been here 56 years — just hearing the stories has really awakened me and made me feel alive,” said Hinkle, an assistant professor in the College of Nursing.

Celebrating Michigan traditions

More history was on display, in vivid colors and patterns, at the 175-year-old Gloria Coles Flint Public Library, where members of the Flint African American Quilters Guild shared the stories behind their stitches.

The quilting tradition incorporates storytelling and many of the group’s quilts are preserved as part of MSU’s Quilt Index, a digital archive preserving thousands of stories and images of quilts and their makers, ensuring that Michigan’s rich cultural history is passed down to the next generation.

“This grassroots effort of documenting women’s history, art history and local history is now being preserved and made accessible for people who want to continue to do research and education using it,” said Marsha MacDowell, professor in the College of Arts and Letters and director of the Quilt Index. “It reflects our shared commitment to preserving cultural heritage, elevating traditional arts and celebrating stories that shaped Michigan’s communities.”

During lunch, the bus tour received a warm welcome at the Bavarian Inn in Frankenmuth from members of the Zehnder family, which includes three generations of MSU alums. The group then ventured across the street to Zak and Mac’s Chocolate Haus, owned by MSU alum and former hockey player Zak McClellan, where participants learned the process of making fudge and decorated their own chocolate bark to take home. Next door at the Frankenmuth Woolen Mill, another group joined owner and alum Abby Curtis to learn how to make dryer balls from wool.

About 15 minutes southwest, at the Saginaw Valley Research and Extension Center, bus tour participants heard how decades of MSU research have supported multiple generations of local growers in the Saginaw Valley and Thumb region. The center conducts field-based research on key rotational crops like sugar beets, wheat and dry beans and provides programming, demonstrations and resources that support growers, industry partners and the broader agricultural community. Currently, about 20 MSU faculty and their graduate students conduct research there.

Michael Houghtaling, a director at Michigan Sugar Company and third-generation Spartan, spoke about the 125-year history of the sugar industry in Michigan. Michigan Sugar is a cooperative of more than 800 farm families. He described sugar beets as the crop that consistently pays the bills and allows these farms to stay in the family for generations.

“This center is a symbol of MSU’s land-grant mission,” Houghtaling said. “It’s where the university and growers come together to figure out how to produce more with less. We are producing more sugar today with less water, less fertilizer and less soil erosion than our grandfathers ever thought possible. That is the power of this partnership.”

Michigan ranks second in the nation for dry bean production and first for black beans. Robert Loggins, director of external affairs for Bush Brothers and Company, now in its sixth generation of family ownership, echoed the importance of partnership.

“I often say that Michigan is the center of the bean universe,” said Loggins. “The investment this state and this university make in agriculture is truly amazing. But beyond the economics, what we do is simple: We feed people. That is the most beautiful thing you can do.

“We call ourselves a ‘community of companions.’ And that extends to how we support the next generation. Programs like Flint Kids Cook and 10 Cents a Meal are inspiring other states to look at Michigan as a model for food policy and child nutrition. We are proud to be part of a legacy that ensures every child has access to healthy, locally grown food.”

The tour’s first day ended with another tour, this time on the water in Bay City at the Saginaw Valley Naval Ship Museum, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving and operating the USS Edson (DD-946), a Forrest Sherman–class destroyer and Vietnam War-era naval vessel. The museum’s mission is to honor U.S. Navy veterans, educate the public about naval history and preserve the ship as a historical and educational resource for the Great Lakes region.

Bruce Biddinger served on the ship during the Vietnam War and now gives tours of the USS Edson.

“I love showing people where I used to live,” Biddinger said. “I was 8 years old when this ship was commissioned. We opened the museum in 2013, and I’ve been giving tours ever since.”

Day 2: Being good stewards

The second day of the Spartan Bus Tour began again on the Saginaw River in Bay City, this time to learn about lake sturgeon and to participate in one of the popular “release” events that are hosted in spring and summer throughout the region. Groups like Michigan Sea Grant, the Department of Natural Resources, MSU Department of Fisheries and Wildlife and other partner organizations are helping to write the species’ comeback story in the region.

Called a “living fossil” sturgeon can grow up to six feet long and live for 150 years. These partner organizations are working to transform the watershed and rivers to provide ideal spawning environments for sturgeon — a restoration project that has helped stock nearly 8,000 lake sturgeon into the Saginaw River system.

At Wenonah Park, Guskiewicz and bus tour participants Jim Hintz and Donna Donovan released two young sturgeon — dubbed “Sparta” and “Gus” — into the Saginaw River, where they’ll be tracked through echolocation tags that provide data on their activities.

“We have this opportunity, especially in our facility, to track individuals both through space and time,” said Doug Larson, an MSU Department of Fisheries and Wildlife researcher at the Black River Sturgeon Facility. “It’s allowed us to answer questions about long-lived fishes that other projects just simply can’t. It’s fair to say that MSU is leading the way on lake sturgeon research, certainly in North America, and has arguably one of the best-studied populations of sturgeon species in the world.”

After the successful launch, the bus traveled across the river to the Michigan Sugar Company factory, where participants learned about the process of turning mountains of sugar beets that come from local growers into the sugar found on store shelves under the Pioneer and Big Chief brands.

During a tour of the grounds and machinery, Corey Guza, director of research and agronomy for Michigan Sugar Company, shared that MSU chemistry professor Robert Kedzie is credited as being the “father of the Michigan sugar beet industry” beginning in the late 1800s with his work that proved the crop would be viable and profitable in the region. These efforts supported the establishment of the Michigan Sugar Company, founded in 1906, along with the agricultural practices that have supported generations of growers that continue today.

Being good stewards extends beyond farmland and waterways to the region’s cultural landmarks. At the Marshall M. Fredericks Sculpture Museum at Saginaw Valley State University, Spartans toured the sculptor’s works, including the iconic “Spirit of Detroit,” and heard remarks from Saginaw Valley State University President George Grant Jr. Both presidents outlined the importance of the strength of Michigan’s public research universities.

Heading back toward East Lansing, participants stopped at the Capitol Theatre in Flint and learned about what it takes to maintain the cultural landmark and stepped on stage for a performers’ view of the theatre designed in the Italian Renaissance style.

Empowering future generations

In the heart of downtown Flint, Spartan Bus Tour participants entered the Flint Farmers’ Market to experience two childhood nutrition programs designed to provide a healthy start for Flint’s youngest residents.

Spartans crowded around a kitchen space in the market and donned red aprons to take part in a cooking demonstration, where they learned to make a healthy green bean recipe just like the one taught to local children in the Flint Kids Cook program.

Later, the group got to pick out a bag of fresh produce from the market as part of the Market Prescription Program that “prescribes” free fruits and vegetables available at the farmers’ market to children during visits at local partner health clinics. Amy Saxe-Custack is a longtime Flint resident and associate professor in MSU’s Charles Stewart Mott Department of Public Health, whose role includes working with community partners to expand and evaluate both nutrition programs.

“We learned pretty quickly that messaging mattered,” she said. “What started as nutrition classes with cooking components became cooking classes that also taught nutrition — and suddenly the classes were filling up fast.”

MSU’s impact is most visible when its research is shaped by the very people it serves. The Charles Stewart Mott Department of Public Health was designed in direct concert with community members, ensuring that the department’s resources align with local expertise.

“I am from Flint, and I knew everyone at each of the stops in the city,” said Kent Key, associate chair for Community-Partnered Departmental Administration and associate professor in the Charles Stewart Mott Department of Public Health. “This experience made me really proud of my community and the work that we do here. To be able to share it with colleagues at MSU who were learning about it for the first time was powerful.”

See more stories and photos from the Spartan Bus Tour.