--- description: The undercover guard wore a cap, gown and holstered handgun title: Emma Watson's Undercover Guard: Brown University Refuses to Comment image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c7bc28593c11285/698690f9810bbb9ad0c91c2f/people-watson_wong-1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [celebrities](/tag/celebrities/) ## celebrities Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Brown University Silent on Emma Watson's Armed Graduation Guard  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 27, 2014 6:15 PM CUT  In this Sunday, May 25, 2014 photo, actress Emma Watson, right, sits beside a woman, left, later seen wearing a badge and with a handgun visible at her side. In this Sunday, May 25, 2014 photo, actress Emma Watson, right, sits beside a woman, left, later seen wearing a badge and with a handgun visible at her side.Steven Senne—AP  by [Dan Kedmey](/author/dan-kedmey/)  ## Dan Kedmey Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 27, 2014 6:15 PM CUT Brown University has refused to comment on the noticeably older-looking woman seated next to actress Emma Watson during her graduation ceremony, who was later photographed with a holstered handgun and a badge. AP [reports](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/brown-wont-discuss-emma-watsons-graduation-guard "undefined") that university spokesman Mark Nickel was “not able to help” with questions regarding where the armed guard came from and why she seemed to be shadowing Watson throughout Sunday’s [ceremony](http://time.com/114963/emma-watson-graudates-from-brown/ "undefined"). Watson, 24, starred as Hermione Granger in the _Harry Potter_ series. Her undercover acquaintance is of an undetermined age and, according to police chief Steven Pare, is not employed as a Providence police officer. \[[_AP_](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/brown-wont-discuss-emma-watsons-graduation-guard "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/119481/emma-watson-brown-university-graduation/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/119481/emma-watson-brown-university-graduation/"},"headline":"Brown University Silent on Emma Watson's Armed Graduation Guard","datePublished":"2014-05-27T18:15:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:03:48.980Z","description":"Harry Potter star was shadowed by a companion wearing a cap, gown and holstered handgun","url":"https://time.com/119481/emma-watson-brown-university-graduation/","keywords":["celebrities","police","Harry Potter","Emma Watson","graduation"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c7bc28593c11285/698690f9810bbb9ad0c91c2f/people-watson_wong-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Dan Kedmey","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/dan-kedmey/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7c7bc28593c11285/698690f9810bbb9ad0c91c2f/people-watson_wong-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Emma Watson","caption":"Emma Watson","creditText":"Steven Senne—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/119481/emma-watson-brown-university-graduation/","name":"Brown University Silent on Emma Watson's Armed Graduation Guard"}}]}] ```