In the wake of the tragic mass shooting at Brown University on December 13, which claimed the lives of two students and injured nine others, the university has unveiled a series of enhanced safety measures. Among these are plans to install security cameras within the Barus and Holley engineering and physics building, the site of the shooting.

Hugh T. Clements Jr., the interim vice president of the Brown University Department of Public Safety, communicated the new safety strategies in a letter addressed to the university community. Immediate steps include bolstering public safety personnel across the campus and maintaining strict entry protocols using card access, keys, or ID checks for building access.

Looking ahead to the Spring 2026 semester, the university intends to transition all buildings from key-based entry to card access systems. Additionally, the plan includes expanding the network of blue-light phones equipped with cameras, installing security cameras at strategic locations, including the Barus and Holley facilities, and increasing the presence of panic buttons in vital areas.

Furthermore, the university will offer new trauma-informed safety training and active-shooter preparedness programs in the upcoming spring semester to ensure the community is better equipped to handle such emergencies.

A temporary memorial has been set up on the Brown University campus in Providence, Rhode Island, near the site of the shooting. The community continues to mourn and reflect on the tragic events. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Clements, who previously served as chief of the Providence Police Department, was recently named Brown’s interim public safety vice president after former chief Rodney Chatman was placed on leave following a report from The Boston Globe, which alleged a school custodian, Derek Lisi, saw the shooter at Barus and Holley weeks before the incident and alerted a security guard.

Authorities say 48-year-old Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, a former Brown student, opened fire inside the elite university’s engineering and physics building, killing students Ella Cook and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, before traveling to Boston to kill MIT professor Nuno Loureiro. Days later, authorities found Neves-Valente dead by suicide in a storage unit in Salem, New Hampshire. 

Interior view of Barus and Holley Room 166 on the campus of Brown University in Providence, R.I. (Kenna Lee/The Brown Daily Herald)

The Department of Education opened an investigation into Brown University for potential violations of the Jeanne Clery Campus Safety Act (Clery Act), which requires colleges to meet campus safety and security requirements to receive federal student aid. 

The department will also conduct an external after-action review of the incident and emergency response, and a comprehensive, externally-led campus safety and security assessment incorporating community input, according to Clements.

“The Brown community has experienced an unspeakable tragedy,” Clements wrote in the letter. “I want to say clearly and unequivocally: What happened on Dec. 13 should never happen again—at Brown or anywhere—and we must confront that imperative for our community with steadfast purpose.”

Visitors pause at a makeshift memorial at the Van Wickle Gate at Brown University for the victims of a mass shooting. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

“As I step into this role, I do so fully aware that there are critical questions about the strength of our safety and security systems,” he added. “Acknowledging those questions is not about assigning blame—it is about responsibility, learning and improvement. … Safety requires more than visible security. It is built through preparation, transparency, trust and partnership.”

The department said it will work on improving coordination with local agencies, enhancing emergency communications and training, and reinforcing awareness of safety and emergency resources.