SAEDNEWS: The Trump administration will investigate Brown University after the shooting rampage in December that killed two students and injured nine others to determine whether the school met security requirements.
“The Trump administration will fight to ensure that recipients of federal funding are vigorously protecting students’ safety and following security procedures as required under federal law,” U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a statement on Dec. 22, Bloomberg reported.
The Education Department’s Office of Federal Student Aid will review whether Brown University violated the Clery Act, a 1990 law that requires colleges to uphold certain safety and security standards.
If a school is found to have violated the act, it could face fines or suspension from accessing federal aid.
McMahon’s department noted that reports following the incident indicated Brown’s surveillance and security systems may not have met adequate standards, potentially allowing the suspect to escape. The department also said that Brown students and staff reported delays in emergency notifications about the active shooter.
On the evening of Dec. 22, Brown University President Christina Paxson announced immediate steps to improve campus security, including installing additional cameras and “panic alarms.”
The university will also commission external reviews of its handling of campus safety before, during, and after the shooting, as well as its overall security protocols.
Paxson revealed that the university’s vice president for public safety and emergency management, Rodney Chatman, has been placed on administrative leave effective immediately. Hugh Clements, a former Providence police chief, will lead public safety on an interim basis.
Brown representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the Department of Education investigation. Paxson communicated the updates in a note to students, faculty, and staff.
The body of the suspected shooter, Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, was discovered in a storage unit in Salem, New Hampshire, following a multi-day manhunt. Police said Valente, a 48-year-old Portuguese national and former Brown student, took his own life.
