The Graduate Student Council discussed the Brown Ever True initiative, budget changes and the campus climate survey at Wednesday’s general body meeting. Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion Matthew Guterl also spoke about the University’s response following the Dec. 13 mass shooting at Barus and Holley.
The day after the shooting, “students surprised us a little bit,” Guterl said. Administrators were struck by students’ adoption of the phrase “Ever True” — which comes from an old school fight song — on Sidechat, an anonymous communication platform used by many Brown students.
Guterl also reached out to several universities that had previously experienced mass shootings, including Michigan State University, Florida State University and Virginia Tech, he told the crowd. He described other universities’ responses as “extraordinarily generous” and said they have been “consistently sharing resources” with Brown administrators.
The Brown Ever True initiative is based off of similar programs implemented by those schools, such as Spartan Strong and UVA Strong, Guterl added.
GSC President Kevin LoGiudice ScM’21 GS added that graduate student leadership from other peer institutions — including Dartmouth, Yale and Cornell — all reached out to him shortly after the shooting to offer their support.
Guterl said that the coming months will see community members continue to come together, but this period will not be without its challenges. “Loss changes us forever,” he said. “We lost a degree of innocence, a sense of safety and security.”
Guterl noted that divisions may arise later as members of the Brown community cope and heal differently. But he reminded those in attendance that the administration will continue to provide support. “You feel warmer when there is a blanket on the sofa, even if you don’t use it,” he said.
“The whole point of everything is to make sure that for as long as possible, and with as much effort as possible,” Guterl said. “We are here for you and for every member of this community.”
In his remarks, LoGiudice also went over new security changes on campus, sharing that he met with Hugh Clements, the interim vice president for public safety and police chief. He added that the GSC is looking for feedback from the broader graduate community following Dec. 13 to bring to administrators in future meetings.
After Guterl and LoGiudice’s segments, GSC Treasurer Nazanin Ahmadi GS introduced the proposed GSC budget for this semester. She proposed increasing fund allocation to social events, the food pantry and recognized student groups. The GSC has a $127,000 working budget for spring 2026 and approximately $300,000 in savings, which they plan to allocate in part to improvements to the graduate student lounge and other shared spaces.
Jean Jerome GS, GSC chair of diversity, equity and inclusion, talked briefly about the campus climate survey that Brown conducted last fall. Jerome noted that 57% of the entire Brown student population responded, including a historically high number of graduate students. More detailed information on survey results will be covered in future meetings, he added.
Ian Ritter is a university news and science & research editor, covering graduate schools and students. He is a junior concentrating in chemistry. When he isn’t at The Herald or exploding lab experiments, you can find him playing the clarinet or watching the Mets.
Noa Saviano is a senior staff writer covering Graduate Schools and Students. She is a freshman from New York City and plans on concentrating in Comparative Literature and Cognitive Science.
