Dear Brown Students, Parents and Families,

We hope you have been having a restful and restorative break as our community continues on its path to recovery and repair after the attack against Brown on Dec. 13. We appreciate your continued patience as our team works carefully and deliberately to help students recover their belongings from Barus & Holley and the surrounding buildings evacuated that day. Our hope is that retrieving these items will help students feel more grounded and whole as we begin a new semester.

This message responds to questions about how students’ belongings have been secured since December 13 and outlines the process for retrieving them beginning next week, in the section titled “Recovering Your Belongings” in the second half of the letter.

PROCESS FOR SECURING BELONGINGS 

From Dec. 13 through Dec. 19, Barus & Holley and the surrounding buildings, including the Lassonde Innovation and Design Hub and the Engineering Research Center, were in an area considered an active crime scene under the control of the Providence Police Department (PPD). This also included Minden Hall, which had restrictions for students from Dec. 13 to Dec. 17. During this time, thousands of items had to remain in place after hundreds of students, faculty and staff had quickly vacated the buildings.

As students prepared to depart campus after the cancellation of exams, a coordinated response team helped students recover items approved by law enforcement, specifically medications and forms of identification. More information about this process is available in the Dec. 14 email regarding lost belongings from Vice President for Campus Life Patricia Poitevien and the Dec. 17  document recovery message from VP Poitevien and Dean of Engineering Tejal Desai.

Students who completed a form identifying where they left various items were able to recover their identification and medication, supported by the PPD and the FBI, while required to leave all other items in place as part of the law enforcement investigation. When necessary items could not be recovered immediately, our team helped students secure replacement student IDs, borrow laptops or tablets from the Office of Information Technology, replace medication from Student Health Services, and address other needs, such as hotels for students who couldn’t access their residence hall, and support for students who needed to travel without a passport or identification. 

After law enforcement released control of the buildings to the University, they were physically secured. Over winter break, an external firm that specializes in responding to critical incidents carefully inventoried, collected, cleaned and transported personal belongings that had remained in place since the Dec. 13 evacuation to a secure University location. On Jan. 8, these items were returned to campus in preparation for redistribution to students. Items will be returned to students through the recovery process outlined below, which will begin on Jan. 12. 

Additional updates related to safety and recovery efforts, including the status of Barus & Holley, are available through Ever True: Brown University’s Roadmap to Recovery, the University’s centralized healing and recovery initiative. 

RECOVERING YOUR BELONGINGS

Our team is committed to working thoughtfully to support students throughout the sensitive process of returning to campus and recovering personal belongings. We also recognize that, despite our best efforts to create an organized system, there may be challenges in identifying items, and we appreciate your patience and partnership as we work through them together.

Reserve a Pickup Time Slot

To allow us to support your item-recovery experience, all students who believe they left items in the affected buildings must complete the Belonging Recovery Form to reserve a pickup time. (If you filled out a form prior to break, you do not need to re-enter item details; but you DO need to fill out this form to select a time slot.)

Pickup Hours

• Monday, Jan. 12 – Friday, Jan. 16: 12 noon – 4 p.m.
• Tuesday, Jan. 20 – Friday, Jan. 23: 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
• Beginning Monday, Jan. 26: Pickup will be available by appointment only

Pickups will take place on the first floor of Graduate Center E (42 Charlesfield Street) during your selected time slot. 

What to Expect On Site

Upon arrival at Graduate Center E, proceed through the Thayer Street entrance and you will be assisted by a Brown staff or faculty member who will guide you through the pickup process. Items have been documented and handled with care, and staff and faculty will work with students to identify belongings and address questions as they arise.

In addition, counseling support from Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) and Family Services of Rhode Island will be available on-site for students who wish to access it.

Additional Information

• How items are prepared: Items have been boxed and labeled with their contents and the locations from which they were retrieved. Whenever possible, the boxes have been labeled with a student's name, and items have been identified from descriptions provided by students.
• Unidentified or mixed items: A significant number of items were not clearly associated with an individual. In some cases, additional time and troubleshooting may be needed to help locate specific belongings.
• Items still in police custody: Depending on where items were left, some may remain with the Providence Police Department, and we are working with the department to determine a timeline for their return.
• Designating someone else to pick up items: By completing the form, students may authorize a friend or family member to collect belongings on their behalf, and the designated individual must show identification at pickup.
• Shipping belongings: At this time, we will ship items only to students who have withdrawn, are on leave, or are studying abroad/away. Other situations will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
• Unclaimed/unidentified items: Items that cannot be matched to a specific student or that go unclaimed will be stored with Brown’s Department of Public Safety and Emergency Management (DPSEM) in accordance with the University’s established lost property procedures. 

As we work together toward healing and repair in challenging circumstances, we appreciate your patience with this recovery process. We know that personal belongings often hold meaning beyond their practical use, and that recovering them can be an important step toward feeling grounded again. We remain committed to supporting you as we move forward together, and we will share more information next week for all students about returning to campus.

Ever true, 

The Division of Campus Life Team