ED to Investigate Brown Over Campus Shooting

The Department of Education is investigating whether Brown University violated the Clery Act in relation to a campus shooting earlier this month that left two students dead.

“After two students were horrifically murdered at Brown University when a shooter opened fire in a campus building, the department is initiating a review of Brown to determine if it has upheld its obligation under the law to vigilantly maintain campus security,” U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a Monday news release announcing the investigation. 

The release also questioned whether Brown’s video surveillance system was “up to appropriate standards” and accused the university of being “unable to provide helpful information about the profile of the alleged assassin” in the aftermath of the shooting. 

The suspected shooter, Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, a former Brown student, evaded capture and was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound following a five-day manhunt. While some observers accused Brown of substandard security practices, which critics say delayed the capture of the suspected shooter, others allege the FBI bungled the search.

ED is also probing whether Brown’s emergency notifications about the shooting were delayed.

The department requested various records to aid in the investigation, including copies of annual security reports; crime logs; student and employee disciplinary referrals “related to the illegal possession, use, and/or distribution of weapons, drugs, or liquor”; and copies of all Brown policies and procedures, among other campus safety documents.

The same day that ED announced the investigation into Brown, the private university in Rhode Island placed its top campus safety official, Rodney Chatman, on administrative leave as it reviews the shooting. Hugh T. Clements, the former chief of police of the Providence Police Department, will take on the top public safety job as Brown conducts a security assessment.

Brown officials did not respond to a request for comment from Inside Higher Ed.