Dear Brown Parents and Families,

No parent should ever have to deal with what all of you are managing right now. I know you continue to be deeply concerned about the safety your children, but just as much about the aftereffects of the weekend’s tragedy.

As our community continues to grapple with the aftermath of the unimaginable violence that took place last Saturday, I recognize that parents and family members understandably want to know more about campus operations and the support that is available for students through this incredibly difficult time. I want to reiterate that the safety and security of your students is our utmost priority. As the Department of Public Safety shared with you yesterday, we continue to work with local, state and federal law enforcement to significantly enhance safety measures and the public safety presence on campus.

Please know that the University is committed to providing you with updates as we support your students as we head into winter break. We are communicating regularly with students, but we understand that not all share campus communications with their families. With this in mind, I wanted to send you the letter below that I shared with our campus yesterday about the two students we lost in Saturday’s senseless attack. While it’s impossible to fully capture their immense promise and potential, I wanted to share more about who they were as we grieve their loss together as a community. At the bottom of the letter there is a list of resources we shared with students, faculty and staff for mental health, well-being and spiritual support. We will continue to update this list on a regular basis.  Soon, we are also planning to share additional resources with students and families, including information on how parents can best support their students during this difficult time.

As your students arrive home or prepare to return, their coping may take different forms. I know they will welcome your love and support.

Sincerely,

Christina H. Paxson
President

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Sent Tuesday, December 16, 2025

Dear Members of the Brown Community,

Three days ago, we lost two members of our Brown community to an act of unimaginable and senseless violence. These were two young people whose amazing promise was extinguished too soon. Both were at or near the beginning of their Brown journey — actually, they were at the beginning of a lot of things. Starting a new chapter away from home. Exploring. Making new friends. Learning about the world and themselves in new ways. Embarking on an exciting path to what life would hold for them in their years at and beyond Brown.

Ella Cook was a sophomore, and MukhammadAziz Umurzokov was in his first semester as a Brown student. Before releasing their names, it was important that we give their families some space to grieve, but now it is important that we never forget them. I expect that, like me, many of you have begun reading about Ella and Mukhammad in news reports and on social media. None of those reports, nor anything that I share here, could ever begin to fully capture the totality of who they were, nor the enormity of who they never had the opportunity to become.

While it is impossible for words to fully convey Ella’s and Mukhammad’s impact and potential, I want to share a little bit about them as we grieve their loss and seek to honor their memories. Both were brilliant and beloved — as members of our campus community, but even more by their friends and families. Our hearts continue to be with them in their profound sorrow.

I have learned that Ella, who came to Brown from Mountain Brook, Alabama, was a passionate and intellectually curious member of our community who was interested in French and Francophone studies. She was attracted to Brown’s Open Curriculum and excited about the freedom to explore her many academic interests and build relationships with her classmates.

Ella was an accomplished competitive pianist and served as a volunteer leader for the Cathedral Church of the Advent in nearby Birmingham back at home. She was known for her compassionate, loyal and courageous spirit, and we understand she was described by a church leader as a “tremendous bright light” who brought peace and faith to all those around her. At Brown, Ella was actively involved in student life and served as vice president of the Republican Club of Brown University. As I learn more about the vitality she radiated, I wish so much that I had the opportunity to know her.

I feel the same about Mukhammad, who was known for being driven, conscientious and disciplined, particularly as he pursued his deep ambition to make a positive impact in the world by becoming a neurosurgeon. A first-year student, he arrived this fall with a passion for medicine born from a personal experience, and he planned to concentrate in biochemistry and molecular biology to help realize his dream of becoming a doctor. His friends and family have spoken of his clear commitment to serving others.

Mukhammad was a U.S. dual citizen from Uzbekistan who graduated from Midlothian High School in Virginia. There, he was a dedicated, well-rounded student who served as president of the school’s Model United Nations chapter and captain of the Scholastic Bowl team. I have been moved by his current and former classmates’ descriptions of him as someone who generously shared his intelligence, humor and kindness with all those who knew him.

On behalf of our entire community at Brown, I extend the University’s deepest, most profound condolences to Ella’s and Mukhammad’s families, friends, classmates, teachers and everyone else fortunate enough to interact with these two amazing young adults, whom we lost much too soon. In particular, our hearts go out to Ella’s parents, Anna and Richard, and her siblings, Richard and Mary, and to Mukhammad’s parents, Fazliddin and Gulnoza, and his sisters, Rukhsora and Samara.

Many members of the Brown community — including support staff in Campus Life and student leaders of the Undergraduate Council of Students — are contributing ideas for how we will join together as a community to memorialize Ella and Mukhammad after we have resumed classes for the spring semester following the Winter Break. We will share details in the weeks ahead. For now, Campus Life and UCS have arranged a virtual interfaith prayer service for Wednesday as a community resource. More information about that gathering is below.

We must also keep the other victims of the shooting in our thoughts as we hope and pray for their healthy recovery. Most remain in the hospital in stable condition. Because of privacy considerations, we will not be releasing the names of those students. We also know that the trauma from Saturday extends far beyond those with physical wounds. As I have spoken with students, faculty and staff over the last two days, I know the weight of this tragedy bears heavily on all of us.

As we mourn and seek to recover in our own ways, please remember that support resources are available to you. Offices across campus continue to partner to provide a network of support, and some key resources are listed below. While we remember Ella and Mukhammad and their lives, I continue to be moved and inspired by the demonstrations of caring, the grace that students, faculty and staff are showing toward each other, and the remarkable resilience of this Brown community as we experience this period of grief.

I look forward to being able to gather in community with one another as we celebrate the lives of Ella and Mukhammad in the weeks to come.

Sincerely,

Christina H. Paxson
President

RESOURCES FOR SUPPORT

The University will continue to mobilize every available resource for mental health, well-being and spiritual support as we navigate a path toward healing. Below is a brief overview of resources we have shared with the campus community to access in the coming days and weeks.

As initial points of contact, students should reach out to:

• Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS): 401-863-3476
• TimelyCare Teletherapy: Offers Brown students in the United States free remote counseling with licensed mental health providers.
• Office of the Chaplains & Religious Life: 401-863-2344
• Student Support Services: 401-863-3145
• Administrator on Call (AOC): available 24/7/365 to assist currently enrolled students — on or off campus — with urgent matters. Call 401-863-3322 and ask to speak to the Administrator on Call.

In addition, students will receive information about this interfaith resource:

• Interfaith Community Prayers, a supportive space for reflection, prayer, silence, music and care, to be held virtually at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 17.

Resources for faculty and staff include the following:

• Spring Health, Brown’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP) provider, has mental health crisis counselors available 24/7 to support faculty and staff. Call 1-855-629-0554 and select option 2 for “Employees in Distress.”
• Walk-in onsite EAP support: Mental health crisis counselors will be on site to support employees through Wednesday, Dec. 17, in the Chancellor's Dining room at the Sharpe Refectory (the Ratty).

[Editor's Note: The original message mistakenly identified Ella Cook as a member of a campus sorority -- this reference has been removed.]