Brown University faces continued scrutiny over campus security policies in the wake of the deadly shooting that killed two students and wounded nine others on Dec. 13.
University President Christina Paxson, meanwhile, received a salary increase in 2023 that raised her compensation by about 72%.
The significant salary hike was reported by the Brown Daily Herald, which noted that Paxson's salary was boosted from $1.8 million in 2022 to $3.1 million in 2023.
Paxson, 65, has led the Providence-based university since 2012 and her compensation has risen more than 700% from her initial salary of $394,000.
The Herald reported she was the second-highest-paid Ivy League president in 2023, trailing only Columbia University's Lee Bollinger, who earned $3.5 million.
Paxson was also the second-highest-paid employee at Brown, behind Vice President and Chief Investment Officer Jane Dietze, who earned $3.2 million.
The New York Post noted that the compensation disclosure comes after the Dec. 13 shooting on campus that left two students dead and nine others wounded.
The suspected gunman, Claudio Neves Valente, 48, fled the scene without being confronted, let alone approached, by university security.
During a news conference this week, Paxson addressed questions about how the suspect accessed the Barus and Holley Engineering Building on campus.
"We don't know how this person got in," she said. "We don't know when they came in. We do know that the building was unlocked that day."
When questioned about the lack of security cameras in the building, Paxson rejected the suggestion that the issue contributed to the attack.
"We'll look at everything that was done, but I do not think a lack of cameras in that building had anything to do with what happened there," Paxson said.
President Donald Trump publicly criticized Brown University following the shooting, disputing Paxson's assessment.
"Why did Brown University have so few Security Cameras? There can be no excuse for that. In the modern age, it just doesn't get worse!!!" Trump wrote on Truth Social on Dec. 17.
The criticism followed earlier pressure from the Trump administration, which had threatened to withhold $501 million in federal funding over what it described as the university's ideological policies.
On July 30, Paxson agreed to a deal with the administration committing $50 million over 10 years to workforce development organizations in Rhode Island, ending programs that promote race-based outcomes, and maintaining sex-specific facilities and sports teams on campus.
A White House statement about the agreement said it would help restore "fairness, merit, and safety in higher education."
The administration pressured Brown for the agreement "after public outcry over incidents and civil rights investigations into Brown's alleged discrimination on the basis of race and national origin."
It also noted "Brown's failure to address anti-Semitism and ensure fair treatment for all students raised urgent concerns about student safety and equal opportunities."
In this month's shooting attack, an autopsy determined that the suspected gunman, a former Brown student who was also suspected in the fatal shooting of an MIT professor days later, had been dead for two days when police discovered his body, according to the New Hampshire attorney general's office.
Jim Mishler ✉
Jim Mishler, a seasoned reporter, anchor and news director, has decades of experience covering crime, politics and environmental issues.
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