How Alpha Phi Alpha Brother Talib Reddick, Brown University’s Student Body President, Stepped Up After a Devastating School Shooting

An exhausted Talib Reddick was napping after he had just wrapped up a final exam for his Urban Politics course at Brown University when he was jolted awake by phone calls from his mother, who was frantically trying to reach him. 

“She was stressed. I could hear her voice. She was asking if I was safe and where I was. I was just confused. And then she told me that there was an active shooter on campus,” recalled Reddick, a Spring 2024 initiate of the Alpha Gamma chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. at Brown. 

The 22-year-old senior studying political science at the Ivy League university in Providence, Rhode Island, immediately began checking his phone for updates. While he slept, a shooter wounded nine students and killed two others, Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov and Ella Cook. The alleged shooter, Claudio Neves Valente, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound days later, authorities said. 

Reddick recalled being locked in his dorm room for hours during the manhunt for the shooter. “It was scary, of course, being in a dark dorm for over 12 hours. It was stressful. All of us on campus were really stressed,” he said. 

Set to walk across the stage in spring, this was far from how he expected to end his collegiate career. But in the aftermath of the shooting, Reddick knew he needed to step up for his fellow students. 

As student body president, he immediately thought of how to help his peers. 

“When they lifted the lockdown, I went to our on-campus dining hall to get some food and to talk to friends,” Reddick explained. “And I got to hear a lot of different perspectives of what went down the day before and how everyone was feeling.” 

Reddick then sprang into action. “I personally worked with student government to get help for students. I worked with Lyft first, then Uber, to get discounted rides for students from campus to airports and train stations. We worked with airlines to help forgive the fees that they charge for changing your flight,” he said. 

He also worked closely with alumni to raise over $20,000 for students who were in need. The funds went to students who were still on campus and needed food, water, a place to stay off campus, or other supplies. 

Reddick believes that being a brother of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. helped prepare him for moments such as these — moments that require leadership.

“This is what it means to be a part of the Divine Nine; we’re taught how to lead in these ways,” said Reddick, who has also served as chapter president. 

“Alpha Gamma is an example of that as well, as one of the oldest chapters in Alpha, the 25th house. There are generations of leadership in this chapter, and I’m standing on their shoulders,” he stated. 

Born and raised in the DMV, Reddick cited Maryland Gov. Wes Moore as a key figure who inspired him to join the fraternity. 

“Before I became an Alpha, a big inspiration of mine was Gov. Wes Moore here in Maryland. And learning that he was an Alpha was really inspiring for me as our first Black governor and only the third elected Black governor in the country,” said Reddick, who aims to become president of the United States one day. 

After he crossed, he gained key experience under his hero by interning in the governor’s Office of Executive Operations & Protocol in Annapolis, Maryland, last summer. 

“I got to intern with him right after I had crossed. He really was looking out during that internship and he took me under his wing as well. So yeah, I’ve really learned leadership from Alpha,” Reddick explained. 

The fraternity has also offered support to the brothers of Alpha Gamma. 

“There has been a lot of outreach from Alpha specifically. As soon as it was happening, our district director for ONECA (Organization of New England Chapters of Alpha) in New England reached out. And then General President Lucien Metellus reached out personally to me and offered to pay for two sessions for each of us in the chapter for therapy,” Reddick said. 

Even though Reddick is preparing for life after college, he acknowledged there’s still healing to be done on campus. He said they have already begun planning events to honor the victims following winter break and will consider other options once students have had a moment to process what has happened. 

And that goes for Reddick as well. He is still processing the tragedy and appreciates the support he has received in the wake of the shooting, but he wants to remind members of the Divine Nine that these are the moments that require “our voices.” 

“I’ve had a lot of folks reach out to me, telling me how proud they are of me and how important it is to show leadership in a moment like this,” he said. “It is very tough to do that, but I think that’s what we (as members of the Divine Nine) should always be doing.” 

“However we can set the example and use our voices, we should, because this is what we’re taught.”

Phil Lewis is a deputy editor at HuffPost. He is the president of the Washington Association of Black Journalists. He is a Spring 2011 initiate of the Zeta Delta chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. at Michigan State University and active with the Iota Upsilon Lambda chapter in Montgomery County, Maryland.