We Must Honor the Faith and Courage of Brown University’s Ella Cook

by Paul Batura | December 16, 2025 | Culture

The deadly shooting at Brown University on Sunday afternoon wounded nine and killed two students – Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, 18, and Ella Cook, 19.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the killer remained at-large as police and law enforcement descended upon the Rhode Island college town to conduct a massive manhunt.

On Sunday, Reverend R. Craig Smalley, dean and rector of the Cathedral Church of the Advent, announced the death of Ella Cook, a lifetime parishioner of the Birmingham, Ala., parish.

“Those of you who knew her, those of you who know her, she was an incredible, grounded, faithful, bright light,” Rev. Smalley said. “Not only here, growing up here at the Advent and in the myriad ways in which she served faithfully, in the ways in which she encouraged and lift up those around her. But at Brown University, she was an incredible light in that particular place as well, and her parents as well, and her family, Richard, Anna, Hooker, and Mary Hamner. So very gracious, so very faithful.”

Reverend Smalley, his voice breaking with emotion, continued:

We hear in the words of John’s Gospel, that the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot, and the darkness will not overcome it. And as the body of Christ, we grieve as people who are hopeful, people with the awareness of what we hear. Our God will come and save us. Our God, in fact, has come and saved us. The Lord saves, is Jesus’s name, and we know that to be true.

A sophomore at Brown University studying French and Mathematics and Economics, the Alabama native had expressed to family and friends that she believed her highest calling in life was to one day become a wife and mother. She led Bible studies and taught Sunday school. According to her family, sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others was her highest priority.

“Not only did her personal faith shine out like a bright Christmas star, but she loved others as real people, not as objects,” we read in her online obituary. “Ella loved God with her whole heart and she loved people – with her whole heart!”

Ella Cook was vice president of the Brown University’s College Republican Club. Martin Bertao, her friend and president of the campus organization, released a statement noting, “Ella was known for her bold, brave and kind heart as she served her chapter and fellow classmates.”

Indeed, it takes grace and guts to be a strong and unapologetic Christian on an Ivy League campus these days. Add in her participation in a club known for its socially conservative leanings and it’s clear she was a fearless young woman.

Said John Wahl, Alabama GOP chairman:

Ella was a bright, promising young leader … She was a courageous voice for her beliefs on an Ivy League campus, where standing for conservative principles is often challenging. Her dedication and leadership are an example of the impact young people can have when they engage in civic life with conviction and integrity.

Our hearts break over this latest senseless act of violence. Ella’s pastor, Reverend Craig, ended his message on Sunday asking for prayer and offering perspective.

“So pray for the Cooks,” he said. “Give thanks for Ella and her deep and beautiful and winsome faithfulness … When we hear these words from Isaiah, ‘And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing. Everlasting joy shall be upon their heads. They shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away’” (Isaiah 35:10).

Photo credit: LinkedIn