Following the horrific attack at Brown University in December 2025 our colleague Kristin, who joined us from Brown, shared her incredibly moving reflections with us at an all-staff meeting. With her permission, we are sharing those same reflections here to a wider audience.
EDI is about dignity, safety, and—ideally—feeling loved, across the many ways we experience and express our humanity in our communities: at work, in our cities, and in our homes. I haven’t lived in the city I was born in for 25 years. Like many of us, I first moved for school and then for work. As adult, my job was where I first put down roots, from which others roots grew into surrounding communities.
In 2018, I moved with my husband and three children to Providence, Rhode Island (RI) for a role at Brown University. I was drawn there for the same reason I later came to ACE: kind people doing interesting, meaningful work (with cool methods). One of the first things that struck me at Brown was rainbow stickers on office doors and signs in shared spaces that simply said, “You are welcome.” Those quiet signals gave me more confidence to be myself at work and beyond out in the world, than I’d ever had before. Providence was also where I found the courage to explore Judaism and where we joined a Reform Jewish community that became a sanctuary, school, and place of celebration for our family. Weekly Shabbat services, Sunday school for the kids, camps, holidays, and countless gatherings shaped our lives there. And people who were there for me when times were hard. It’s the community we miss most since moving to Scotland, and we stay connected as best we can from afar.
I loved teaching at Brown—the undergraduate and graduate students were so energetic, passionate, and hopeful about making a difference. We got to meet in gorgeous buildings that I felt so lucky (and proper professorial) to teach in. Walking through the campus always gave me inspiration to see the historic buildings, the buzzing students, the uniquely Providence scrappy charm.
Rhode Islanders like to say they’re the smallest state with the biggest heart and they pride themselves on looking after each other, especially in a crisis. During the pandemic, I saw that firsthand working with the RI Department of Public Health on vaccine programmes where marginalised populations were most affected and needed additional vaccination support. Additionally, despite early-Covid era risks, thousands gathered in the streets to grieve for George Floyd and speak out for Black Lives Matters. Brown itself responded by setting up the first of its kind Health Equities Scholars program to support students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic Serving Institutions and local RI communities. I was proud to supervise a student (Levell shown in picture) in the first cohort, and one of my lasting memories during my final term there was celebrating his graduation and joining the iconic procession through Providence streets.
I share all this to say how grateful I am to Brown for the dignity, safety, and identity it gives its students, staff, and wider Providence population and how deeply sad and angry I am that this community I love has been hurt in such a deep way. I very much wish I was there to rally with them.
But these thoughts also remind me of what I want to celebrate and what I valued here at ACE – dignity and safety and looking out for each other. After two and a half years I’m starting to feel more settled in Scotland, and much of that is due to the support of colleagues and friends here at ACE. I came for kind people doing cool and impactful things, and that’s exactly what I’ve found. I hope to give back as much as I receive and make others feel safe and valued and able to thrive – as we all deserve. Happy Christmas to you and your families—and as it’s also Hanukkah too, let’s keep lighting candles and bringing light into the darkness.
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