Penn’s Undergraduate Assembly co-hosted a memorial service on Saturday to honor victims of the December 2025 shooting at Brown University.
Nearly a dozen community members attended the Feb. 7 service, which was organized with the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly, the Office of the Chaplain, and the Spiritual and Religious Life Center. The memorial included a moment of silence to honor victims Ella Cook and MukhammadAziz Umurzokov.
According to Wharton junior and UA President Nia Matthews — who is also a staffer at The Daily Pennsylvanian — the memorial was organized after student representatives at Brown’s Community Council contacted Penn and other Ivy League institutions.
“I think it’s easy for students to get lost in our everyday lives … so I think it’s really important when students can come together and build a community themselves,” Matthews said.
College sophomore and UA Communications Director Taya Allardice — who previously served as a DP staffer — said the memorial was a “simple way to process and reflect,” and described the space as “important” and “meaningful.”
Musab Chummun — College junior and UA vice president — echoed a similar perspective, highlighting the importance of providing a space for Penn students to reflect.
“It is often easy to feel isolated or feel as though the walls are closing in, especially in times when it feels as though there’s lots of tragedy,” Chummun said. “That’s why it’s even more important to have services like these [because] it can make people feel seen, feel heard, and feel supported.”
Chummun added, it is “very important to have open spaces on campus where people can come and be able to relate to something specific beyond all of our differences.”
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After the Dec. 13, 2025 shooting, Penn President Larry Jameson sent out a school-wide message addressing the incident. Soon after, Penn’s Division of Safety said the University “continues to have an increased police presence on campus.”
On Dec. 17, 2025, students and community members gathered on campus as part of an Ivy League-wide vigil.
“I think there’s room for the University to support and start creating more protocols and helping students beyond just sending an email,” Matthews said. “It’s moments like these we are able to create those spaces and engage with students in whatever way it is.”
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Staff reporter Rachel Erhag covers student government and can be reached at rerhag@sas.upenn.edu. At Penn, she studies philosophy, politics, and economics. Follow her on X @RErhag.
