Buzzfeed and a number of conservative Web sites have published that Watson’s protection was a private bodyguard.
This is incorrect. GoLocalProv has learned that the security detail accompanying Watson at the graduation was none other that Brown University Police Detective Jeanne Peck.
She is a graduate of the Rhode Island State Police Academy. Peck is assigned to the Special Operation desk at Brown.
Conspiracy Theory Crushed
According to the Web site YoungConservatives.com, “Emma Watson, a.k.a. Hermoine Granger, brought an armed body guard with her to graduation at Brown University. Is this a bad thing? Absolutely not. I’m all for people having the right to defend themselves, just like our Founding Fathers were. The only problem is that Brown University is a 'GUN FREE ZONE.' Providence PD and Brown both said the bodyguard isn’t one of their own.”
Brown University does not confirm the identification of their security officers. Marisa Quinn, Vice President of Public Affairs and University Relations, refused comment to GoLocal, but according to multiple sources in the Brown University campus, Peck was assigned and is licensed to carry a gun on campus.
Efforts to reach Peck for comment were unsuccessful.
Related Slideshow: Emma Watson: Her History at Brown and in Providence
Check out Emma Watson's ups and downs at Brown University.
Emma Watson leaves Brown to focus on her acting career in the spring of 2011.
She spends the summer promoting "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" and collaborating on a fashion line with Alberta Ferretti.
Watson also begins filming "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" in June 2011.
There are rumors that she may transfer to another school.
Watson posted a message to her fans announcing her depature from Brown:
Hi everyone,
As you know, I love Brown and I love studying pretty much more than anything but recently I've had so much to juggle that being a student AND fulfilling my other commitments has become a little impossible.
I've decided to take a bit of time off to completely finish my work on Harry Potter (the last one comes out this summer) and to focus on my other professional and acting projects. I will still be working towards my degree... it’s just going to take me a semester or two longer than I thought : )
Hope you are all well! Thank you for all your continuing support.
A spokeswoman for Watson said she will be transferring from Brown University and attending a different school in fall 2011.
The spokeswoman denied reports that the Harry Potter actress was “bullied out” of Brown. Instead, she said Watson will be pursuing a new source of studies that is not available at the Ivy League school.
The 21-year-old actress reportedly had “absolutely loved” being at Brown.
Emma Watson returns to the UK to study at Oxford University in October 2011.
Watson left Brown in April leaving a trail of rumors about her motivations, but she denied her departure from Brown having anything to do with rumors of bullying or teasing.
After two years away from Brown University, Emma Watson will return in January 2013 to resume her studies.
Fresh from her appearance in the film, "Perks of Being A Wallflower", Watson has also kept herself busy finishing up the Harry Potter series, cracking the books at Oxford, and working with director Sophia Coppola in the film, "The Bling Ring."
