The University Archives at the John Hay Library hold centuries of Brown history. Now, they will also be a home for media encapsulating the diverse experiences related to the Dec. 13 shooting.
Discussion about creating a Dec. 13 collection started shortly after the shooting, according to Jennifer Betts, director of the Hay and University Archivist. “We knew that people would, in the future, want to look back on this and really try to understand what the students and staff and faculty went through when this happened,” she said.
Community members can donate materials — including artwork, photographs, texts and social media posts — to the project through a Google form provided by the University Archives.
The materials, which will be stored in the Hay and the off-campus Library Collections Annex, can be requested by community members to be seen in the Gildor Family Special Collections Reading Room at the Hay, according Betts.
There is no set timeline for the project, which Betts hopes will allow the Brown community to heal and process the event. She noted that the staff wanted to “really deliberately” approach the project slowly and “proceed with empathy and sensitivity.”
“I can imagine we’ll still be getting (and) receiving materials over a year from now,” Betts added.
The Undergraduate Council of Students is assisting with the project’s outreach.
“We have much more immediate access to the student body,” UCS Treasurer Alexa Theodoropoulos ’27 said.
The UCS reached out to a staff member at the Hay at the end of winter break when they were planning future initiatives in the wake of the shooting. They then connected with University archivists and brainstormed ideas for the project, according to Theodoropoulos.
She noted the importance of maintaining a historical record of the shooting, as the events surrounding Dec. 13 are some of the “biggest moments in University history.”
“I feel like the way that community has come together and produced a lot of stuff has been very beautiful to see,” they added.
One of the submitted pieces is a short illustrated poem by Koji Hellman, a junior graphic design student at the Rhode Island School of Design and former illustrator at The Herald.
Hellman saw the post on Brown’s Instagram page calling for art submissions related to Dec. 13, and was “inspired” to share their poem. His work was inspired by the strong interconnectedness between the Brown and RISD communities.
“Following the shooting, I kept reflecting on how much love I’ve felt from my time being a student here,” they wrote in a message to The Herald. “My poem references a moment where I experienced one of the strongest bursts of love for this community: the 2024 solar eclipse on the green.”
“I hope it can emphasize the importance of protecting and loving one another,” Hellman wrote.
Lucia Santiago is a senior staff writer covering undergraduate student life.
