By ALEXANDER DOLITSKY
The impetus behind individuals killing or injuring college students varies considerably, frequently arising from complex psychological issues, personal grievances, or extremist beliefs. In many high-profile cases, however, the precise motivation remains unclear even after conviction.
Individuals often blame specific people (e.g., classmates, faculty members, ex-partners) or circumstances for their problems, which can fuel the desire for revenge. Revenge is a significant and common motivating factor in mass killings on college and school campuses, often stemming from perceived injustice, intense humiliation, social rejection, and chronic bullying. Perpetrators often feel they have been wronged and seek to restore their sense of power or status through violence.
Certainly, the recent killing of two and injuring nine innocent students at Brown University shocked and alarmed many rational Americans. I am an alumnus of Brown University (MA in Anthropology/Archaeology, 1983). I look back fondly on my three academic years at Brown (1980-83); I would never have envisioned, however, such heinous acts unfolding in the Brown community.
The Brown University Campus is located on the Providence’ East Side, at the top of the College Hill. Most of the students reside on the East Side of the campus; just to the north is the East Campus. Further north lays the main Campus, then the Thayer Street area and Pembroke Campus. Thayer Street is dotted with shops and nice, small, but fairly expensive restaurants for the students’ budget. Still further to the north, around Olney Street, is an apartment complex called University Heights. The area to the north of Olney is a middle-class neighborhood with many shops and delicatessens. To the west, halfway down College Hill, is Benefit Street. The Rhode Island School of Design and various small restaurants are in this part of College Hill.
Soon, the motive of this irrational attack will be determined. The evidence tentatively indicates that the root cause of the fatalities and injuries inflicted upon innocent Brown students was a desire for payback.
Tentatively, I incline to believe that the main cause of killing and injuring innocent Brown students was revenge. Of course, at this stage, I am conjecturing; it is my hunch or educated guess. Academia is a highly competitive, challenging and rigorous arena; students could be ruthless with each other, and graduate students often confront or strongly disagree with their academic advisors, leading to irreconcilable tensions.
My academic advisor at Brown, Dr. Douglas Anderson, was a traditional scholar; he strongly insisted on deleting 30 pages of my thesis, including novel terms that I introduced in the thesis: “rational preselection” and “structural-ecological approach.” I reluctantly conceded to my advisor’s demands.
However, several years later (1985-1986), I authored three significant papers in the professional journals Current Anthropology, Arctic and Ultimate Reality and Meaning, reintroducing those novel concepts, therefore, proving my point.
Indeed, avoiding violent revenge involves managing intense anger and channeling that energy into healthy, constructive outcomes that promote your well-being and break the cycle of harm. Educational institutions must tackle aggressive retaliation by implementing a comprehensive, integrated strategy that incorporates social-emotional learning, utilizes restorative justice frameworks, and builds students’ skills in conflict resolution.
This comprehensive strategy moves beyond simple punishment to foster empathy, communication, and a strong sense of community safety.
The author was born and raised in the former Soviet Union before settling in the U.S. in 1978. He moved to Juneau in 1986 where he taught Russian studies and Archaeology at the University of Alaska Southeast, and Social Studies Teacher at the Alyeska Central School of the Alaska Department of Education. From 1990 to 2022, he served as a director and president of the Alaska-Siberia Research Center, publishing in the fields of anthropology, history, archaeology and ethnography. Find him on Amazon.com.
Alexander Dolitsky: Two essential reads for understanding Alaska’s Russian-American era
One thought on “Alexander Dolitsky: Perspectives on the deadly shooting at Brown University, my alma mater”
It seems people are not learning such skills as conflict resolution and the ability to functionally handle grievances. I would guess our hand held electronic devices, ie. the phone, are exacerbating the problem, as the isolation and separation provided by using a screen to ‘communicate’ diminishes opportunity for healthy interaction. The internet doesn’t help as there is so much there to fan the flames of anger and perceived ‘injustice’. It would probably be wise, as is suggested in the article, for higher learning institutions to incorporate teaching or guidance for what used to be rudimentary skills.