There is a certain type of heartbreak that comes with realizing that nowhere is truly safe anymore. The feeling is heavy and unsettling, it’s almost impossible to ignore. When I heard about the shooting at Brown University, I felt a very familiar feeling of sadness, fear and anger. What I didn’t feel was shocked because unfortunately, this isn’t a rare occurrence in America. And what came next was grief. Deep and exhausting grief.
Brown University is a place that is known for learning, tradition and opportunity. It represents a future that students have worked years to reach. To know that gun violence has shattered that sense of safety is completely and utterly horrifying. These students were doing what college students everywhere do: studying late, walking to class, focusing on their exams and deadlines. And in a matter of seconds, their priorities had to shift from grades to surviving.
These aren’t distant locations, they are real places that mirror our own lives. Libraries, classrooms, dorms, cafeterias. These are all spaces where students should feel protected. The Brown shooting shows us a painful truth that so many of us already carry with us: attending college in America comes with an unspoken risk and that should NEVER be the case.
I feel an overwhelming sadness for the students and families whose lives were forever changed by this tragedy. For those who were injured, for those who lost friends and for those who now live with trauma that no one ever should. These were young people with futures ahead of them. They had dreams, plans and relationships. All those futures were interrupted by pointless violence. No headline can embody that kind of loss.
With my sadness is fear. Fear for Brown University’s campus and for campuses everywhere. Fear that another alert will go out. Fear that another “lockdown” message will pop up on phone screens. Fear that this will keep happening, because it already has, time and time again. It’s exhausting to live with the constant awareness that any normal day can become life threatening without any warning.
And then there is anger. Anger that gun violence has become so normalized in this country that we have to talk about it in never-ending cycles. Outrage, thought and prayers, silence, repeat. Anger that students are taught how to barricade doors and hide instead of being guaranteed safety. Anger that we continue to accept that this is a part of American life now when it should be completely unacceptable.
This isn’t just sadness about a rare one-time event. It’s sorrow that comes from watching tragedy after tragedy and wondering when, or if, anything will ever change.
Students should be safe at schools. Families should be able to send their children to school and college without fearing that they won’t come home. Moments that should be filled with growth and discovering new things shouldn’t be overshadowed by the possibility of violence.
I am heartbroken and devastated for the Brown University community, for the students whose sense of safety was shattered and for every person who has been affected by gun violence. I am scared that this pattern will continue but I also believe that acknowledging this fear and anger matters. Honoring the lives lost means demanding a future where education doesn’t come with fear, and where safety is not something students have to hope for.