We were finalizing the BAM’s Spring issue when the Brown community experienced the unimaginable tragedy of the December 13 shooting, one of the most heartbreaking chapters in Brown’s more than 260-year history.
We put those stories aside and pivoted to publish this issue, which features a variety of voices from across our community—students, faculty, staff, alumni, and parents—sharing stories about that tragic day, and about how our community is moving forward as it continues to heal.
In “Voices,” you’ll read firsthand testimonials taken in the immediate aftermath of December 13. Some of these accounts are harrowing, but on that day there were “many moments of kindness,” said Susana Sharp ’29, who was in the Barus & Holley computer lab the night of the shooting.
On December 14, next to the Ratty, the words “Ever True” were written into the snowy ground. This nod to Brown’s fight song became a rallying cry around which our community came together. We chronicle this solidarity in “Open Doors,” about alumni who over winter break held gatherings for students who had left suddenly when Brown shut down campus. A common theme emerged—the ability for students to see “joy, optimism, and hope amidst grief,” said Zack Langway ’09, ’27 ScM, Brown’s vice president for alumni relations, who attended two of the gatherings.
In this issue, we cover the memorial held at Sayles Hall, where the community came together to honor Ella Cook ’28 and MukhammadAziz Umurzokov ’29, who died in the shooting, as well as the nine students injured and now recovering. Elina Coutlakis-Hixson ’28
spoke about her friend Cook. “She pushed you to be better, to be more courageous, and to reach beyond what you thought was possible for yourself.”
Coutlakis-Hixson added: “It took me 18 years to meet a true friend like Ella, and the heartbreak of losing her so soon has created a deep hole in my life. But her unique devotion to our friendship and undying love has raised the bar in my understanding of what it means to be a friend.”
At the memorial, Professor James Kellner recounted meeting Umurzokov, who had planned to become a neurosurgeon, a goal inspired by his own childhood brain surgery. Umurzokov pointed to the back of his neck, and said, “I have the scar to prove it.” Kellner acknowledged that many at the service had experienced the shooting in person. “Mukhammad had the scar to prove it,” he said. “Now, you do too.”
The issue continues with “Ever True,” an overview of the University’s trauma-informed recovery efforts. In “The Road Back,” the BAM draws lessons from other institutions that have experienced shootings. “Campus Safety in an Era of Gun Violence” details some of Brown’s security enhancements.
We end the package with “Our American Elm,” a poem by Afaa Michael Weaver ’87 AM, written for this issue. The BAM hopes, as Weaver writes, that “opening the patterns of bricks older / than the thoughts of any of us … can lead us / to think of what it means to be a collective hope.”