By closing the barn door after the horse ran away, Brown University is seeking to temper its potential liability in the shooting deaths of students Ella Cook and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov by placing Rodney Chatman, Brown’s vice president for public safety and emergency management, on administrative leave.
#BREAKING: Brown University confirms that its vice president for public safety and emergency management, Rodney Chatman, has been placed on administrative leave. Former Providence Police Chief Hugh Clements will serve as interim police chief, according to Brown. The statement comes from…
– Brooke Taylor (@Brooketaylortv) December 23, 2025
#BREAKING: Brown University confirms that its vice president for public safety and emergency management, Rodney Chatman, has been placed on administrative leave. Former Providence Police Chief Hugh Clements will serve as interim police chief, according to Brown. The statement comes from university President Christina Paxson, who is facing her own criticism after telling reporters she didn’t think the cameras would have made a difference, when asked if the university would make any changes.
Learn more: Massive Brown University security breaches point directly to security chief
Brown University guard repeatedly warned security that a suspected shooter was stalking his target
As RedState reported, Chatman was Ground Zero for the failures that resulted in a shooter entering the Barus and Holley Engineering building, gunning down Cook and Umurzokov and wounding nine others. From disabled cameras (according to some reports) that Brown President Christine Paxson initially denied existed, to multiple reports from a guard in Chatman about someone investigating the engineering building for weeks before the murders, to a homeless man living in the building’s basement (who ultimately helped apprehend the killer), this tragic clown show of gross incompetence, misconduct, technological failures and of botched security measures, all happened on Chatman’s watch.
BREAKING🚨: Brown University has placed its vice president for public safety and police chief, Rodney Chatman, on administrative leave effective immediately, following the devastating Dec. 13 mass shooting on campus that killed two students and injured nine… pic.twitter.com/Jo28wAcddR
– Officer Lew (@officer_Lew) December 23, 2025
Despite Paxson’s disastrous role, Chatman’s head appears to be the first to fall, but it certainly shouldn’t be the last.
Paxson immediately proposed appointing an interim public safety chief.
Hugh T. Clements Jr., a former longtime Providence police chief, was hired by Brown University to lead the school’s public safety operations following a campus shooting that left two people dead and nine injured.
Clements, who started as a night patrol officer for the Providence Police Department in 1985, rose through the ranks and was promoted to chief in 2012. He was the second longest-serving chief in city history before retiring in January 2023.
Clements will serve as Brown’s interim vice president of public safety, a role held by Rodney Chatman who has been placed on leave.
Paxson’s days could also be numbered. The Department of Education now has Brown in its crosshairs for failing to keep its students safe.
Today, the U.S. Department of Education (the Department) announced that it will conduct a review of programs at Brown University in response to the December 13, 2025, shooting on its campus that killed two students. The Department’s Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) will investigate whether Brown violated Section 485(f) of the Higher Education Act, also known as the Jeanne Clery Campus Safety Act (Clery Act), which requires institutions of higher education to meet certain requirements related to campus safety and security as a condition of receiving federal student aid.
In the meantime, the university has retained the services of an external advisor.
#FIRSTONFOX: Brown University has retained former U.S. Attorney for the District of Rhode Island Zachary Cunha as sources tell me they prepare for possible prosecution.
Brown shared this statement: “Brown regularly works with outside counsel whose expertise complements…
– Brooke Taylor (@Brooketaylortv) December 22, 2025
#FIRSTONFOX: Brown University has retained former U.S. Attorney for the District of Rhode Island Zachary Cunha as sources tell me they prepare for possible prosecution.
Brown shared this statement: “Brown regularly works with outside counsel whose expertise complements that of the University’s Office of General Counsel. In this case, we have retained Zachary Cunha, the former United States Attorney for the District of Rhode Island, to help the University coordinate with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.”
That $8 billion endowment could be about to be significantly reduced. The coming months will be ones to watch: expect new and returning college enrollment to plummet and lawsuits to ensue.
Editor’s Note: President Trump is fighting to dismantle the Department of Education and ensure America’s children get the education they deserve.
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