Clements will serve as Brown’s interim vice president of public safety, a role held by Rodney Chatman. The vice president of public safety is considered the Brown police chief.
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The Clery act requires universities that receive federal financial aid to disclose campus crime statistics and security information.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon, said “the department is initiating a review of Brown to determine if it has upheld its obligation under the law to vigilantly maintain campus security.”
The new investigation comes just five months after Brown reached an agreement with the Trump administration to restore its federal research funding and address allegations that it failed to do enough to stop the harassment of Jewish students. The deal, finalized in July, settled three open investigations into the university.
The Education Department announcement says it will investigate whether Brown’s camera system “may not have been up to appropriate standards, allowing the suspect to flee while the university seemed unable to provide helpful information about the profile of the alleged assassin.”
While police did release at least one video of the suspect, Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, captured on a Brown camera leaving the building, many students questioned why there were not more images of him available as he carried out his attack. The suspect left out a door that led into a residential neighborhood; he was captured on business and home surveillance cameras.
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Neronha said at a news conference last week that the Barus and Holley engineering and physics building, which has an older section and a new section, had fewer cameras in the older part of the building, which dates back to the 1960s.
Interior cameras “do not cover” the room where the shooting took place or in the surrounding hallways, a Providence police affidavit said.
During the frantic manhunt last week, President Trump echoed the criticisms on social media about Brown’s surveillance. “Why did Brown University have so few Security Cameras?” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “There can be no excuse for that.”
Brown has an “expansive network of security cameras” with more than 1,200 cameras across campus, university spokesman Brian Clark said in a previous statement.
He said the university was notified about the Trump administration’s investigation on Monday and will respond directly to the Education Department.
Former Providence Police Chief Hugh T. Clements Jr.Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff
The university faced additional scrutiny Monday after a custodian named Derek Lisi told The Boston Globe that he saw Neves Valente “casing” the building weeks before the shooting, and flagged the suspicious person to a security guard.
The outside security company that employed the guard said they were hired to work at events and had nothing to do with watching buildings. Brown did not comment.
The university separately Monday confirmed it has hired an outside lawyer, former US attorney Zachary Cunha, to “assist the University in coordinating with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.”
Clements, the interim campus chief, will report directly to Paxson, according to the letter she wrote to the Brown community on Monday.
Clements, who served as chief for 11 years before retiring in January 2023, was widely respected by the rank-and-file officers and by multiple mayoral administrations.
The city named the auditorium in the public safety complex — where the press conferences on the Brown shooting have been taking place — after Clements last year. He was the second longest-serving chief in the city’s history.
Clements did not immediately respond to a request for comment. An email bounce back from Chatman said he was on leave.
Clements’ appointment “underscores our commitment to clear accountability, leadership continuity and a sustained focus on campus safety at a time when safety is a critical part of healing and recovery for our community,” wrote Paxson.
After retiring from Providence police, Clements was named director of the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services for the Department of Justice. He stepped down earlier this year.
Aside from the shooting at Brown, Chatman has faced increased scrutiny in recent months by his own department.
In August, the union representing Brown’s 10 campus police sergeants issued a vote of no confidence in Chatman and Deputy Chief John Vinson. Brown’s Security and Patrol Person’s Association, which represents 40 other employees, issued its own vote of no confidence in Chatman and Vinson in October.
“The concerns our community has about safety and security are real,” wrote Paxson. “And I share them.”
Paxson’s letter also outlined three actions Brown plans to take, including forming a rapid response team to ensure a secure campus during winter break and ahead of its spring semester.
Brown will also commission an external “After-Action Review,” which will include an assessment of campus safety leading up to the shooting, on the date of the shooting, and the aftermath.
The university will also initiate an external security assessment of the entire campus, said Paxson, which will review Brown’s security policies, procedures, infrastructure, and training.
Both reviews will be governed by a committee of the Brown Corporation, and key outcomes will be made public, said Paxson.
Alexa Gagosz can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her @alexagagosz and on Instagram @AlexaGagosz. Steph Machado can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her @StephMachado.
