President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 has charged a committee to help create a permanent campus memorial to honor the lives of the victims of the Dec. 13 shooting, she announced in a Tuesday email to the Brown community.
The Committee on the December 13 Memorial will be tasked with developing formal recommendations to memorialize the lives of Ella Cook ’28 and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov ’29 to “ensure they are remembered, always,” Paxson wrote in the announcement.
“Creating a physical memorial on campus will be an important part of our community’s journey of recovery and repair,” Paxson added.
The University is also creating plans for renovations to the Barus and Holley classrooms that have been closed since the shooting, “with the goal of reopening spaces sometime in the coming year,” Paxson wrote. Courses for the upcoming academic year have not been scheduled in these classrooms.
According to Paxson, the memorial committee will engage with students, faculty, alumni, staff and the victims’ families to ensure their input is considered in the design plans for the memorial. The committee will also “identify potential locations on campus where a physical memorial would have high visibility and symbolic resonance,” Paxson wrote.
The committee will share its recommendations in a report that will also contain a call for artists or designers to create a memorial in alignment with the objectives and guiding principles determined by the committee. Paxson asked that the report be completed by the end of the fall 2026 semester. She will then make a recommendation to the Brown Corporation — the University’s highest governing body — for approval.
The committee will be co-chaired by University Architect Craig Barton and Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion Matthew Guterl. It will be composed of members of the campus community — faculty, staff and students — nominated by campus governance organizations such as the Faculty Executive Committee, Undergraduate Council of Students and Staff Advisory Council.
“The committee co-chairs will be in touch with campus governance organizations in the coming weeks about the nomination process, and the committee’s membership will be shared with the community after it is finalized,” Paxson wrote.
Paxson added that the memorial is part of a broader University attempt to recognize the lasting impact of the mass shooting. In May, Paxson will also host a private event at her home for health care workers and public safety officers across Rhode Island who helped respond to the Dec. 13 shooting. In August, the University will sponsor a full Waterfire lighting in honor of the first responders and members of the community who supported Brown in the wake of the tragedy.
Roma Shah is a section editor covering University Hall & Higher Education and Admissions & Financial Aid. She's a sophomore from Morgan Hill, CA studying neuroscience. In her free time, she can be found doing puzzles, hiking or curled up with a book.
