Brown University to build permanent memorial for shooting victims

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Brown University is taking the next step toward creating a permanent memorial honoring the two students killed in the December 13, 2025 campus shooting.

University President Christina H. Paxson announced that a committee made up of faculty, staff, and students will lead the effort. The group will develop recommendations for a memorial that pays tribute to Ella Cook and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov and ensures their lives and impact are remembered.

The committee will gather input from across the Brown community, including students, alumni, and employees, to help shape the memorial’s design, tone, and purpose. It will also work closely with the victims’ families to ensure the tribute reflects what is most meaningful to them.

As part of its work, the group will explore possible campus locations that offer both visibility and symbolic significance. The goal is to create a space that honors the victims and supports ongoing healing within the community.

Paxson said the memorial will play an important role in Brown’s continued recovery and will serve as a lasting tribute to the students and the values they represented. The committee is expected to deliver its recommendations by the end of the Fall 2026 semester. This will include guidance for selecting artists or designers and ideas for programming connected to the memorial.

The university is also working toward reopening classrooms in Barus & Holley, the building where the shooting took place, sometime in the coming year.