Today marks a kind of new beginning for Brown University students as they begin the spring semester over a month after two students were killed and nine others were hurt in a mass shooting on campus.
Brown University President Christina Paxson shared a letter with the community on Tuesday — “As we start a new semester” — in which she reflected on grieving the lives lost on December 13 — Ella Cook and MukhammadAziz Umurzokov — and the gradual healing process that continues for the nine students injured and for the community as a whole.
Paxson acknowledged the road to recovery will be long and that Brown will forever be a campus where a senseless attack brought devastating tragedy, but that this moment alone does not define Brown.
Paxson, who said she remains committed to providing the resources necessary to bring Brown’s campus through this difficult moment, believes there is an intense desire for everyone on campus to work to restore “what makes Brown feel like Brown.”
“For some, that means a return to familiar rhythms and opportunities for connection. For others, it is the hope that space will open for healing, recovery and community. For many, it is reclaiming what it means to be Brown in everyday moments. And those moments will not look the same for everyone. We know that many on our campus may travel a long path to healing — that many are just finding their footing. This means dedicating ourselves to being thoughtful and caring for our colleagues, classmates, students and friends for whom a sense of peace will take time,” Paxson wrote. “But our conviction is strong. As increasing numbers of our community members have returned to campus since the new year, I have been deeply moved and inspired to see a special uplifting of the resilience, resolve and determination to reclaim what makes this place so special.”
Paxson said she has been truly overwhelmed by the many students, staff and faculty saying how much they wanted to come back to their dorms, offices and classrooms: “Really, how much they need to come back. So that Brown could still be Brown — for them, and for the world.”
“And we are still Brown,” she added. “We are a university that cultivates amazing talent among our students, our faculty and our staff. We continue to conduct research that finds treatments for patients and transforms lives, and we engage in scholarship that advances understanding and shifts conversations that help shape society. We collaborate with other institutions and with each other to tackle some of the most difficult issues of today. And we nurture and launch initiatives as a community uniquely defined by taking joy in the good we can do in the world.”
Paxson said Brown can do all of this while still holding the memories of Ella and Mukhammad in their hearts.
Members of the campus community will receive an invitation in the coming week to a university memorial service that is scheduled for 4 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 7, to honor Ella and Mukhammad, Paxson added. Alumni, parents, families and others will be invited to participate via webcast.
As Brown’s spring term officially starts Wednesday, some students will be returning to the building where the tragedy took place on Dec. 13 — the Barus & Holley Engineering building — however the areas where the mass shooter went into, including two lecture halls, eight classrooms and some hallways and bathrooms, will be closed off.
University officials have acknowledged these closed areas will have an impact on the campus, but they say they needed to remain mindful of the concerns that many have raised about continuing to use those spaces. It’s just one of the many changes students and staff can expect in their return to campus.
Brown is also expanding the school’s blue light emergency phone system and surveillance camera network.
“What we want them to know is two things,” Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said. “One is that their university and their city are being extra vigilant and there have been enhanced security measures put in place that they can see around campus and around town. And two, just to feel the love and support from the community.”
Brown’s president said the Providence community has shown the university so much kindness over the past several weeks, and school officials are planning an effort to recognize the outpouring of support that the university has continued to receive from them. Paxson added that she hopes the full Brown community will participate in these efforts, as well as other programming and events being offered throughout the spring as part of the Brown Ever True initiative.
The “Ever True Roadmap to Recovery” website continues to highlight support resources, programming and events, and safety and security actions the university has undertaken to ensure students, faculty and staff feel secure as they live, work and study on campus.
“I know that many in our community will continue to struggle, and neither the path nor the pace of recovery will be the same for everyone. The work we will do together as part of Brown Ever True’s roadmap to recovery will be important for our campus,” Paxson wrote. “With the start of the semester, we begin again as a community that will grieve even as we recover — that will reflect and remember, even as we heal and seek repair. We are a community that feels loss, while at the same time reclaiming all that it is to be Brown.”
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