Mounting criticism for Brown University president after deadly shooting

Because the manhunt for the perpetrator of a lethal mass taking pictures at Brown College enters its fifth day, the celebrated establishment’s president, Christina Paxson, is dealing with mounting criticism for her response to the disaster.

At a press convention on Tuesday, regulation enforcement and college officers had little or no to inform the general public about any leads or attainable motives that emerged from their investigation into the taking pictures that left two college students useless, and Paxon sparked criticism on-line for a response wherein she mentioned gun violence.

“An important level I wished to debate earlier than we ask questions is that Brown is deeply dedicated to the security, safety and well-being of our group. And I am deeply saddened to see individuals query that,” Paxson advised reporters amid questions on why the varsity has failed to supply video of the shooter from contained in the constructing or any concrete details about a suspect.

Many to social media took exception to Paxson’s feedback.

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Brown College President Christina H. Paxson speaks throughout a information convention after a mass taking pictures on Dec. 13, 2025, prompted a lockdown on campus. (Getty)

“We perceive that as time passes, there could also be a pure intuition to assign duty for a tragic occasion like this. Worry and anxiousness are pure, however the shooter is accountable. Horrific gun violence has taken the lives of those college students and hospitalized others. It’s deeply unhappy and tragic that faculties throughout the nation are being focused by violence, Brown is not any exception.”

“Form of a weird quiet piece out loud,” stated Republican communicator Matt Whitlock posted on X. “You is likely to be tempted guilty a violent terrorist or perhaps a failed safety equipment when an harmless particular person is murdered. However keep in mind… it is truly the gun’s fault. These persons are elevating our kids.”

“She’s horrible,” Twitchy.com editor Samantha Janney posted on X. “How can a household permit its kids to attend this faculty?”

“A home terrorist assault by an unknown gunman simply occurred on her campus and her principal challenge is how is Brown seen?” Canadian politician and commentator Lisa MacLeod posted on X.

Paxson was additionally concerned in a single tense exchange with a reporter days earlier when she was requested six hours after the taking pictures if she knew what the scholars had been doing within the classroom after they had been shot, and he or she replied, “I do not know.”

‘OLDER’ BROWN BUILDING WHERE THE SHOOTING TOOK PLACE HAD NO CAMERAS AS THE PRESIDENT’S EVEN OLDER HOUSE APPEARS TO BE EQUIPPED

A cut up picture displaying a number of nonetheless photos from surveillance video taken close to Brown College of an individual of curiosity earlier than and after a faculty taking pictures Saturday. (FBI Boston)

“That is fairly regarding,” the reporter advised her.

“Do you imagine Brown College had the correct precautions in place?” A reporter requested her in a single separate change reply to parental criticism surrounding the varsity’s safety system.

“Sure,” Paxson replied.

Paxson is an economist who has served as Brown’s nineteenth president since 2012, having beforehand served as dean of the Faculty of Public and Worldwide Affairs at Princeton College.

Paxson earned simply over $3 million {dollars} in 2023 Brown Daily Heraldwhich represents a wage improve of roughly 74% in comparison with the earlier yr and which incorporates varied compensation schemes along with her primary wage of roughly 1.3 million euros.

Since her hiring in 2012, Paxson’s wage has elevated by greater than 700%, the newspaper reported.

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A regulation enforcement officer walks previous gadgets of clothes on a sidewalk close to the doorway to Brown College, Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025, in Windfall, RI, through the investigation of a taking pictures. (Steven Senne/AP Photograph)

Paxson can also be chairman of the board of administrators of the Federal Reserve Financial institution of Boston and a member of the Council on Overseas Relations.

Paxson has waded into political waters a number of instances as president of Brown, together with in 2017 when she joined different college presidents send a letter to President Donald Trump concerning immigration and urging protections and monetary help for DACA college students.

In 2019, Paxson got here into battle with pro-Palestinian activists on campus by rejecting a BDS-style divestment platform regardless of a scholar referendum.

“Brown’s donation isn’t a political device that can be utilized to specific positions on complicated social and political points, particularly these on which considerate and clever individuals vehemently disagree.” Paxson said on the time.

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A bouquet of flowers rests within the snow on Sunday, December 14, 2025, on the campus of Brown College, not removed from the location of a taking pictures, in Windfall, Rhode Island. (AP Photograph/Steven Senne)

In July, Brown acquired nationwide information protection comply with pay out $50 million to state workforce improvement organizations for greater than a decade as a part of an settlement with the U.S. authorities that the Trump administration touted as a victory over DEI.

“Past the monetary pressure of terminated and unpaid analysis grants and contracts, we have now noticed a rising push for presidency interference within the primary tutorial actions of faculties and universities, and for the acknowledged goal of imposing a requirement to adjust to legal guidelines geared toward prohibitions in opposition to anti-Semitism and discrimination,” Brown wrote in a prolonged publish on the time.

Only a few months later, when Trump’s crew provided choose universities a “Compact for Educational Excellence,” basically further entry to federal funding in trade for strict limits on DEI, caps on worldwide college students and different ideological situations, Paxson publicly declined.

Late October Paxson hosted and moderated a dialog with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at Brown’s Pizzitola Sports activities Heart.

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Crime scene tape blocks streets close to Brown College because the investigation continues Saturday in Windfall, RI. (Andrea Margolis / Fox Information Digital)

Earlier this yr, Fox Information Digital reported that Brown College confronted criticism beneath Paxson’s tenure from scholar Alex Shieh, who testified earlier than Congress that the college is dealing with an administrative burden.

“Based on Brown’s personal disclosures, the college employs 3,805 full-time non-teaching workers,” Shieh stated in his testimony. “With 7,229 undergraduate college students, this equates to 1 non-teaching workers member for each 1.9 college students. These workers don’t embrace school members, however somewhat directors, advisors and help workers, many in roles of unclear necessity.”

Shieh urged the Home Judiciary Committee to analyze why his faculty has turn into so costly, and his suggestions embrace subpoenaing Paxson “for testimony and paperwork referring to administrative development, monetary help coordination, and retaliation.”

Fox Information Digital reached out to Brown College for remark.

Fox Information Digital’s Rachel Del Guidice and Alex Nitzberg contributed to this report.