Brown University is rolling out a "campus-wide healing and recovery" initiative in the wake of December's deadly shooting and has selected Matthew Guterl — vice president of Brown's Office of Diversity and Inclusion and a professor of Africana and American Studies — to oversee the effort.
The program, called Brown Ever True, will expand psychological services and create "meaningful opportunities" for students to provide "feedback about security infrastructure," according to an announcement from Brown President Christina Paxson.
Guterl's university biography states he has "extensive expertise in the history of race-relations, civil and human rights, and empire." He discusses "growing up in a multiracial adoptive household" in his 2023 memoir, "Skinfolk," and is "presently working on a global biography of the queer, cosmopolitan, human rights activist, Roger Casement."
His bio adds that he "continues to be interested in writing about Neverland Ranch."
The decision to put Guterl in charge comes as Brown and local authorities continue to face intense criticism for how they handled the shooting.
Brown took almost 20 minutes to alert students once the shooting began and did not activate its emergency sirens. The university also initially told students that a suspect had been captured before withdrawing the statement.
Paxson later argued that campus sirens would not sound "in the case of an active shooter," even though the siren system's webpage indicates otherwise.
The gunman remained at large for five days. During that time, he killed a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor before fleeing to a storage facility in New Hampshire where he later took his own life.
Police initially detained a former Army infantryman who was not involved in the attack. The suspect was ultimately identified after a homeless man helped steer investigators toward the right person, Portuguese national Claudio Manuel Neves Valente.
In the aftermath of the shooting, the Education Department announced that it will conduct a program review of Brown to determine if it violated the Jeanne Clery Campus Safety Act, which mandates certain campus safety and security requirements as a condition of receiving federal student aid.
Questions also remain about why Paxson did not choose a professor with more directly relevant credentials to lead the recovery initiative.
The Brown University Community Council — a university-wide representative forum that addresses campus concerns — will serve as the advisory body for Brown Ever True. Only three of the council's 10 faculty members are from health-related departments, while others teach in areas including Gender and Sexuality Studies.
Newsmax reached out to Guterl and Brown for comment but did not receive an immediate response.
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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