RISDE Students Call For Collaboration After Deadly Brown University Mass Shooting

PROVIDENCE, RI — An online petition was started calling for safety collaboration between the Rhode Island School of Design and Brown University following Saturday's deadly mass shooting.

The Change.Org petition, started Saturday, shortly after the Brown University shooting, already has more than 2,700 signatures.

"Calling on RISD and Brown to collaborate on a unified emergency alert system," reads the "issue" the petition addresses.

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"RISD and Brown campuses are adjacent, and buildings on both campuses are accessible to both student bodies," it says. "Given the geographical overlap between both campuses, coordinated communication is essential so that students receive timely and consistent safety information."

According to the petition, these are the only alerts sent to RISDE students:

• 4:28 pm: "RISDAlert: Critical update. Police activity reported in the area of Brook and Thayer Streets. Avoid until further notice. More info to come."
• 5:30 pm: "RISDAlert: Critical Update Active Shooter on Brown Campus. Police activity reported in the area of Brook and Thayer. Avoid area until further notice. More info to com"
• 5:38 pm: "RISDAlert URGENT Brown University reporting shots fired near Governor Street. Stay clear. Police are responding"
• 6:35 pm: "RISDAlert: Critical Update: Current situation near Brown remains ongoing. First responders still on site. Ongoing updates at Brown.edu"

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"I’m a RISD student and an RA on campus during this tragedy. We had our team members on brown campus studying for finals as we finished closing the residence halls," one commenter said on the petition.

"We only knew what was happening because of people who took brown classes," the commenter said. "Risd never told us to shelter in place. Absurd."

RISD President Crystal Williams posted a letter to the school website Monday that said a "group of RISD senior leaders debriefed Saturday’s events and our response to them."

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"We acknowledge that there are lessons to learn and act upon–among them enhanced internal and external communication and coordination, especially given the mutual nature of our campuses," Williams said in the letter. "Thank you to all members of our community who have made suggestions to strengthen RISD and how we support our community members. And thank you, too, to those whose letters of support and appreciation have reached us."

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