Dear Brown Community,

I know the passing hours of this emergency have been filled with stress and anxiety for many in our community. This is an unimaginably tragic day —a day that no university community is ever prepared for. While we prepare for major crises, we always pray this day never comes. This is a time for our campus to care for each other and support each other.

As we have moved into the early-morning hours, Brown remains under a shelter-in-place order, and I know that many members of our community have questions about what this means for them. I am writing to provide information, while recognizing that this still remains a fluid situation. I encourage all members of our community to continue watching RAVE alerts and the Brown.edu website for updates about this ongoing emergency. 

While the shelter in place order remains in effect, students who are in residence halls should remain there. Sheltering in place at this stage means staying indoors. Students in off-campus residences are advised to remain there until the lockdown is lifted. Students who were in Barus & Holley or in other academic and administrative buildings within the perimeter established by police as part of the active police scene have been and continue to be evacuated by RIPTA buses provided by the City of Providence and Brown shuttles to our Olney-Margolies Athletic Center (OMAC). Students in OMAC are receiving specific instructions from staff on-site about remaining on-site or leaving the area, depending on whether their destination is within or outside the perimeter established by police.

Providence Police have advised that our campus must remain on lockdown. It is an active police scene, and the priority is to keep everyone safe. All members of the campus community will receive an alert notifying students, faculty and staff when the shelter in place order is lifted. Until then, we advise parents and families not to travel to the Brown campus. This is for their safety. 

As we look ahead to the next 24 hours, faculty members who had exams scheduled for Sunday, Dec. 14, informed their classes Saturday evening that there will be no scheduled exams Sunday. More information about academic matters will be forthcoming on Sunday morning.

Non-emergency staff who were scheduled for an overnight shift were informed to stand down and informed that they should not report to work for their shift while the shelter-in-place order remains in place.

I can confirm that the nine members of our community who were transported to local hospitals are all students. And we lost two students to today’s devastating gun violence. Our hearts go out to them. This is a day of tremendous sorrow. No parent or family member should ever have to endure a day like this.

We learned from the hospital that six students remain in critical but stable condition. One student is in critical condition, another is considered in stable condition, and one was treated and released. Our full focus right now is on our community, their safety and providing support for the victims and their families. I am not able to share further information about the shooting victims at this time.

We have reached out to the families of all the students and are offering any support we can. I have spoken to some of them and expect to speak to others soon. We stand ready to give them anything they need.

I want to thank every member of our community for every kindness, shoulder to lean on, and gesture of support that I know will come in the hours and days ahead as we work together as a community to be there for one another.

Sincerely,

Christina H. Paxson
President