This September, students who studied abroad last spring are returning to campus for the first time since the Dec. 13 mass shooting. The students have had access to resources to support their transition through Brown’s study abroad team and the newly created Office of Student Recovery and Care.
“It’s been kind of a weird experience just because everything was so rushed in December in terms of leaving,” said Cooper Herman ’27, a former senior staff writer for The Herald who studied abroad in Granada, Spain through the Consortium for Advanced Studies Abroad program last semester. “Everything kind of all happened at once, so it wasn’t a traditional, proper exit of the semester.”
Last Thursday, the Office for Global Engagement invited returning students to a reception designed for attendees to “reflect on their time abroad and their needs as they return to campus,” Malik Blue, senior associate dean of the College for study abroad, wrote in an email to The Herald.
“Returning after such an unusual and difficult semester can feel overwhelming,” Razanne Shoukfeh ’27, who studied abroad in London last semester, wrote in an email to The Herald. “It was comforting to know that there were people thinking about how to support us through that transition.”
At the event, OSRC Associate Dean and Director Brian Woods presented an overview of the new office’s role and where students could seek additional resources. This support could range from coordinating academic flexibility, handling financial concerns or working with other campus offices like the Office of Residential Life, “so the student does not have to manage those connections alone,” Woods wrote in an email to The Herald.
He added that the office is designed to provide more individualized support to students directly affected by Dec. 13.
“They did a good job of letting it be known that there are people on campus at Brown right now who are always open to talking to us,” Herman said. He added that the reception helped create a “laid-back environment” that encouraged students to seek support in ways that “don’t necessarily need to be super formal.”
Woods wrote that his intention for the office is not to create additional required commitments for students, but instead to provide opportunities for them to engage with on their own terms.
The University has been extending support to these students since December, ensuring students could access either virtual or in-person psychological support from their study abroad location.
While students located outside the United States are able to “work with (Counseling and Psychological Services) to discuss options for continuity of mental health care,” they are not able to receive formal CAPS counseling sessions, Blue wrote.
Since professional licensing and jurisdictional requirements differ by country, students were instead enrolled with International SOS, a global network of care providers that includes psychological services, Woods explained.
For example, in the CASA Granada program, students were connected with temporary insurer Sanitas Health, Herman told The Herald. The transition to going abroad “was pretty good, such that there wasn’t a long period of time where we weren’t covered with insurance,” Herman said.
For students in London, the Brown Club of the United Kingdom “created a space for students abroad to come together,” Shoukfeh wrote. She added that administrators at Brown and at her host university — Queen Mary University of London — were reaching out to offer resources and support.
“I really appreciated that Brown made an effort to make sure we knew we weren’t alone,” Shoukfeh wrote. “Having that continued connection to the Brown community, even from across the ocean, meant a lot.”
In January, the study abroad team touched base with students and shared details regarding the University Memorial Service, which was livestreamed for those unable to attend in person, Blue wrote.
Granada’s ‘CASA Moms,’ or program directors, also hosted a vigil for the roughly 30 Brown students studying abroad there, Herman said.
“We had a nice remembrance ceremony for everything that happened once we got there in February,” Hailey Seltzer ’27 said.
Returning to campus this semester, Seltzer said the increase in security was noticeable. Finn Brown ’27, who was in Berlin last semester, added that it was “a little awkward” on his first day of classes because he didn’t realize that buildings now require swipe access.
“It’s been a lot of mixed emotions,” Shoukfeh wrote. “I’m incredibly excited for my senior year and for all the life that still exists here, while also carrying the sadness of missing the people who are no longer here with us. Both feelings can exist at the same time.”
Zarina Hamilton is a university news editor covering activism and affinity & identity. She is junior from near Baltimore, Maryland and is studying mechanical engineering. In her free time, you can find her reading, journaling, or doing the NYT mini crossword.
