Tuesday, December 23, 2025

Brown VP For Public Safety and Emergency Management Placed On Leave

Continuing the trend, most of the aggregators haven't picked this up. Via the UK Daily Mail,

University officials announced Monday that Rodney Chatman, the head of public safety at the school, was placed on leave effective immediately, and his day-to-day responsibilities were given to former Providence Police Chief Hugh Clements.

The decision comes amid intense scrutiny over the school's security policies in the wake of the December 13 mass shooting, during which students Ella Cook and MukhammadAziz Umurzokov were tragically killed and nine others left with injuries.

Remarkably, as I noted yesterday, Chatman had been on administrative leave for much of his time in his previous position, chief of the University of Utah campus police. At Brown, earlier this year, two campus police unions issued "no conficence" votes about him. It looks like it took the December 13 shootings to get anyone to listen. The Daily Mail continues,

School president Christina Paxson sent out a detailed letter to the Brown community acknowledging 'the anxiety, fear and stress' in the community on the back of the shooting and outlining the actions officials will make moving forward.

'I understand the gravity of the concerns about safety that follow a tragedy of the magnitude that Brown has suffered,' she wrote.

'I want to assure you of Brown’s deep commitment to take every possible action to increase the safety and security of our campus, with the goal of protecting our community from future harm.'

As I noted last week, the application deadline for the fall 2026 school year is January 5, which leaves families conaidering applying to Browm just enough time to reconsider their choice. I suspect this was one among several factors that gave the Brown Board of Fellows, which is what they call their board of trustees, the vapors. I asked Chrome AI mode, "Will the shootings affect Brown's college ranking?" It answered with remarkable complacency,

Major college ranking systems like U.S. News & World Report and The Wall Street Journal do not currently use "campus crime" or "safety statistics" as direct metrics in their ranking formulas. Consequently, a single tragic event such as the December 13, 2025, shooting at Brown University is unlikely to result in a direct drop in its numerical ranking.

I'm sure the Fellows on the Board found this vastly reassuring. It intrigues me that President Paxson was radio silent for much of last week. She issued a weepy letter on Friday, after the suspect's identity was released:

Nothing can fully bring closure to the lives that have been shattered by last weekend’s gun violence. Now, however, our community has the opportunity to move forward and begin a path of repair, recovery and healing.

. . . We recognize the profound anxiety and fear that members of our community and the surrounding region have experienced in recent days, and we hope this significant development provides some comfort, even as we continue to navigate the impacts of last weekend’s tragic violence. It is my hope that this news also will end the harmful and dangerous online targeting of members of the Brown community, arising from rampant and baseless speculation, some of it based on individuals’ ethnic origin, culture and religion.

. . . As we look ahead to healing and recovery, I am so proud of everything that makes us Brown.

Currrently, Brown is tied for 13 on the US News ranking. Strangely, its graduate engineering program, the poor quality of which was a factor in Neves Valente's shooting rampage, is nevertheless a relatively high 42. The Wall Street Journal ranking, behind a paywall, has Brown at 36, which is probably somewhat more realistic, but still on the high side. Dartmouth, my alma mater, is tied with Brown at 13 in the US News rankings, but at WSJ, it was at 57, probably also much more accurate.

I suspect that Brown's ratings will decline in next year's surveys. Other areas of pressure would include alumni, who'll be less willing to donate if they feel Brown has become a laughingstock, and the problem of lawsuits from victims -- the lack of cameras in the building and nearby campus areas, the slow campus police response, the fact that a homeless guy was living in the basement, and the fact that Neves Valente had been spotted on campus and his suspicious presence reported in previous weeks will be factors in lawsuits.

Add to this the factor that the main duty of any corporate board is to hire, evaluate, and fire the CEO, and the Brown Board of Fellows' options narrow. Nwevertheless, this past May,

A familiar face will continue to occupy the president’s office at Brown University for the next two years.

Brown President Christina H. Paxson’s contract was set to end on June 30, 2026, but the university’s Corporation unanimously approved a two-year extension earlier this month, according to a letter sent by Chancellor Brian T. Moynihan to the Brown community on Tuesday.

. . . “During a tumultuous time facing American higher education, Brown is fortunate to benefit from President Paxson’s steady and principled leadership,” Moynihan wrote. “We are excited that the University will continue to benefit from her strategic vision, boundless energy, unwavering dedication and fortitude during periods of momentous change. Our community has been made stronger by her sincere belief in all the good that Brown can do in the world.”

Townhall commented,

It has taken the university more than a week since the fatal shooting of two students to come to the decision to suspend Chatman.

But I now feel certain that at some point, we'll get another weepy letter from President Paxson, this one announcing her unanticipated decision to retire. I wish I could have listened in on the conference calls among the Fellows on the Board. Brown will have to settle numerous lawsuits, buy Paxson out of her contract, and pay outside attorneys and consultants. This will be an expensive time.

posted by test @ December 23, 2025   0 Comments