Brown University students return to campus for new semester after deadly shooting
Brown University students are back on campus in Providence, Rhode Island for the first time since last month's deadly shooting. A new semester started on Wednesday.
Two students were killed and nine others were wounded in the attack on December 13. While students were home for winter break, the university announced sweeping security changes including putting the chief of the university police department on leave and replacing him with the former chief of the Providence Police Department.
"Before, campus felt really open and safe and free, but I think that these measures definitely do make me feel safer," said student Raghav Ramgopal. "I think that in the future, Brown will never be the same, and this is just part of the new Brown."
Providence Mayor Brett Smiley was on campus Wednesday to provide support for returning students.
"Everyone left immediately. Finals got canceled. People found their flights home and got the heck out of here. So there's been an emptiness for the last five weeks or so," Smiley said. "I want them to know that their city loves and supports them."
Students return to Brown University
By the first week of the new year, the university announced a number of security improvements including more panic buttons in buildings, increased security cameras, and the university police department has doubled the number of officers on each shift.
"I still kind of feel numb to it all I guess," said graduate student Garrett Wheeler. "I am still pretty depressed something like this could happen here."
The memorial in front of the engineering building where the shooting happened continues to grow as students and community members have laid flowers there consistently over the last several weeks. Many students returning to campus from break made an effort to stop by for a moment on the eve of a new semester.
"I feel safe to be honest with you," said Evan Braho, a senior at Brown studying neuroscience. "I am pleased with the amount of communication we got after the shooting and the improvements that they made with campus security and what not. I hope they continue making improvements. I suppose I am the kind of person who doesn't want tragedy to get in the way of the dreams and things I want to chase I kind of want to come to class the next day ready to do my best and achieve what I came here to do."
Brown University safety reviews
The university said it is undergoing two external reviews. One is a campus security assessment, and the other review aims to look at the university's response to the deadly shooting. The university pledged to release the findings of those reports when they are complete.
Pragathi Nagappa, a Brown University freshman, spoke about the feeling of returning to campus.
"Walking around this morning is just different because you would just never expect this to happen at a place you call home," Nagappa said. "It's kind of just hard to accept the fact that this happened to us, but I think we have a really strong community."
