Two Oxford residents were each individually invited to attend Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s 2023 State of the State Address on Jan. 25. The two former Oxford High School students are Trent Myre and Dylan Morris.

Sen. Ruth Johnson, R-Holly, welcomed Myre to the Michigan Capitol last Wednesday night as her guest for the address. Myre is the older brother of Oxford High School student Tate Myre, who was tragically killed during the November 2021 shooting at the school. In the new Legislature, Johnson represents Oxford in the state Senate.

“I agree with the governor about the importance of improving education and school safety. We have invested a record amount in our schools, and we must continue giving our teachers and parents the tools they need to ensure our kids recover and succeed academically. This effort must focus on reading and getting Michigan children the necessary support, like tutoring,” Johnson said, adding, “Safety is critical to a positive learning environment. I now represent Oxford, which is still recovering from the horrific high school shooting in 2021. It was the worst thing I can imagine as a parent, and I’ve been working with Tate Myre’s family on student support. They started a foundation in his honor called ‘42 Strong’ and they’re doing a pilot program they hope will become a model for all schools to identify isolated kids and match them with a peer mentor.”

Morris, a student survivor of the Oxford school shooting, also attended the speech as a guest of State Senator Rosemary Bayer, D-West Bloomfield, Co-Chair of the Michigan Legislative Gun Violence Prevention Caucus. Morris is a leading student activist and co-founder of No Future Without Today, an organization of Oxford students working for gun policy reform.

On her social media page, Bayer posted, “Thank you to Dylan Morris for being my guest at tonight’s State of the State . . . It was an honor to have Dylan as my guest and I am so proud of all the work he has done to end gun violence.”

Among other issues, at the address Governor Whitmer called for gun violence laws to curb gun deaths in Michigan. Governor Whitmer called for: Safe storage, which would require guns in homes with children to be locked safely away; Universal background checks for all firearm purchases; and extreme risk protection orders, which would allow a judge to temporarily remove firearms from an individual who may be at risk for harming themselves or others. — Don Rush