In one of the more horrific weekends in recent memory, a mass shooting rocked Rhode Island's Brown University. It hit hard on the campus where we teach and study, Amherst College, located as it is two hours away. Brown is not exactly a sister school of Amherst, but many of the students here have friends there, as do many faculty members. And like Brown, Amherst has an open campus. Less than 12 hours after the mass shooting at Brown, a terror attack stunned Sydney's Bondi Beach, targeting Jews. This was another blow to us as Jews at Amherst. Between Bondi Beach and Brown, 17 are dead, and more than 40 wounded. And we are left thinking about what can be done in this country to make it possible for students and faculty not to have to look over their shoulders during classes or final examinations?