Communications
Dear School of Engineering and Department of Physics Faculty, Staff, Post-docs and Graduate Students,
We are writing to provide an update on the current status and planning as well as timeline expectations to date with regard to Barus & Holley, Lassonde Innovation and Design Hub, and the Engineering Research Center (which we will refer to collectively in this letter as the School of Engineering and Department of Physics complex). Please note that we will also share this communication with Dining Services, Facilities Management and other staff who work routinely in these buildings.
First and foremost, we want to express our continued empathy and support for all of you who work, study, teach and conduct research in these buildings. Whether you were on campus on Dec. 13 or not, we know that the shooting, the loss of life and injury to our students, and the continuing work of healing and recovery loom large for you all. Engineering and Physics faculty, staff and graduate students will have an especially important role in the campus path to recovery as well as needs and concerns specific to being located where the shooting took place. The multiple ongoing efforts regarding campus safety, support resources and the physical spaces in the complex are cognizant of and will center those needs and concerns.
At the bottom of this letter you will find links to information, communications and public safety resources. University Human Resources (UHR) is the source of information for critical professional resources available to faculty and staff, including those detailed in this Dec. 14 message from UHR Vice President Marie Williams. Support resources for graduate students can be found on the Graduate School website and on the Campus Life website. We also encourage all of you to carefully read and review President Paxson's Dec. 22 campus communication regarding immediate actions the University is taking on safety and security. More information and support is certainly forthcoming.
As noted by President Paxson, the School of Engineering and Department of Physics complex — including Barus & Holley, Lassonde Innovation and Design Hub, and the Engineering Research Center — remains fully closed at this time. The University regained control of the buildings from Providence Police on the evening of Friday, Dec. 19. We have been focused since that time on securing the buildings internally and externally and addressing immediate needs, including ensuring critical research and lab safety equipment is maintained and kept safe.
This week, an external firm that specializes in response to critical incidents is inventorying, collecting and transporting to a secure University location the hundreds of personal belongings that were left behind on Dec. 13, largely by students. We expect that work to continue into the weekend at least. We have told students who left personal items in Barus & Holley or surrounding buildings and have not yet completed this item recovery form to please be sure to do so. We hope you can encourage them as well. Additional information about picking up items will be shared in the new year.
Faculty offices, labs and similar spaces have been physically secured and items in those spaces are safe and will be left in place. We cannot at this time support individual access to or facilitate retrieval of non-urgent items (anything other than driver's licenses, passports, international identifications and prescription medications) from those spaces or the School of Engineering and Department of Physics complex in general.
As also noted by President Paxson in her communication on Dec. 22, we have been planning for how operations in Barus & Holley will be altered, including relocating spring classes and lectures from sensitive areas. Following consultation with Dean Desai and Professor and Chair Mitrovic, we have determined that Barus & Holley lecture halls 166 and 168, eight immediately adjacent and proximate classrooms (155 through 165), and the immediately adjacent hallways, restrooms and entrances to that area of Barus & Holley will be closed and inaccessible to everyone. We understand that closing these heavily used teaching and event spaces will have a substantial impact on the campus, and planning is underway for how to accommodate and relocate classes scheduled to be held in these rooms in the spring semester — but we are mindful of the concerns that many community members have raised about continuing to use those spaces, given the tragic events events of Dec. 13.
The closed areas of the first floor of Barus & Holley (including access to 166 and 168 from the basement level) will be sealed and secured behind new walls and emergency access doors. None of the closed areas will be visible to occupants and users of adjacent spaces, and no one will be able or allowed to enter those spaces. Nearby first-floor hallways that have a similar look and feel to the closed spaces will be updated with paint and carpet to change that look and feel. Longer-term consideration and decisions regarding the future of that area of the building, including consideration of appropriate memorialization, will be made over time in consultation and conversation with the Brown community.
The remainder, and vast majority, of the School of Engineering and Department of Physics complex will reopen in time for the spring semester, and there are two important messages about that reopening that we want to emphasize:
- As detailed in President Paxson's Dec. 22 letter, a team led by Executive Vice President for Finance & Administration Sarah Latham is focused on the rapid implementation of safety measures across the campus and in the School of Engineering and Department of Physics complex, prioritizing critical aspects of safety and security projects the University had launched prior to the Dec. 13 shooting. These include physical safety staffing and visibility, adjustments to swipe access and building entry protocols, security camera coverage and expansion of panic alarms and duress systems. We will share detailed information about those measures in the coming weeks.
- The physical work to prepare the complex to reopen will take some time and, for both psychological and physical security reasons, it's important that we complete this work prior to allowing full reentry and use of the buildings, which will be open for the spring semester. For your planning purposes, after the winter break (which concludes on Jan. 5) all Engineering and Physics faculty, staff, postdocs and graduate students should for now plan and expect to continue to work remotely until Tuesday, Jan. 20. We understand this is disruptive to teaching preparation for the spring semester and ongoing research. We are working in close consultation with Dean Desai and Professor Mitrovic to develop and implement a plan for phased access to research laboratories (and will continue to take care of all critical lab safety issues, as we have been doing). We do not yet have sufficient details or a timeline to share on lab access, but we are working on that plan and will share that information as soon as we can. Graduate students and postdocs in need of alternate office space in which to work during this time period can be in touch with the Division of Research at vp_research@brown.edu.
When reentry is allowed, in addition to the safety measures described above, community support and related trauma-informed resources will be visible and present. We fully understand, including from our own experiences being in these buildings in the days since they were returned to us by law enforcement, that as a campus community we deeply feel the tragedy that happened within these walls. The important and impactful work of teaching, research and community that defines Barus & Holley, Lassonde Innovation and Design Hub, and the Engineering Research Center will not be undone by what took place on Dec. 13, but instead will inform our collective efforts to reclaim and reopen these spaces together as Brown.
Sincerely,
Francis J. Doyle III
Provost
Russell C. Carey
Executive Vice President, Planning & Policy
Information and Communication Resources
- Brown continues to post all campus-wide emergency updates to the Brown.edu website.
- Messages from Brown's president and provost are posted on their respective websites.
- Campus Life is publishing messages to students on its Community Messages page.
- Additional messages about resources for employees will be posted on the University Human Resources announcements page.
Public Safety Resources
- Brown University Department of Public Safety (DPS), 401-863-3322
- Providence Police Department, 401-272-3121
- Brown DPS Director of Advocacy, Engagement and Communication, 401-863-2542
- The Brown University campus community is always encouraged to take the following steps to keep yourself and others safe:
- Report suspicious behavior.
- If you feel unsafe in any situation, trust your instincts and call Brown DPS at 401-863-3322 or the Providence Police at 401-272-3121.
- Please review the Brown DPS website for additional safety awareness information and resources.
- For any emergency situation, dial 911.