Brown University announced a settled deal signed by the university and US President Donald Trump’s administration on Wednesday, restoring millions of dollars of frozen federal grants paused due to the university’s alleged mistreatment of Jewish students and use of race in the admissions process.
The deal, published on Brown’s website, stated a list of agreements that the university and the federal government have reached in order to reinstate $510 million in grants that were at risk of being taken away from the university. These agreements include defining “male” and “female” in accordance with Trump’s executive order, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” in all areas of the university, including athletic teams, dormitory housing, and bathrooms. The president and Brown also agreed to the university paying $50 over three years to the Rhode Island workforce development missions and intensifying research efforts to ensure antisemitism has no place on campus.
Brown’s president, Christina H. Paxson, said the deal satisfies the federal government’s requests without compromising Brown’s academic independence. The signed deal includes terms that state the government cannot dictate curriculum or academic speech at Brown. Paxson stated in a letter to the members of the Brown University community:
At its core, the agreement preserves the integrity of Brown’s academic foundation, and it enables us as a community to move forward after a period of considerable uncertainty in a way that ensures Brown will continue to be the Brown that our students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents and friends have known for generations
The settlement puts an end to three ongoing federal government investigations into allegations against Brown for antisemitism and discrimination in the admissions process, with a finding of no wrongdoing.
This deal comes as one of the many deals the Trump administration has reached with Ivy League universities over allegations of liberal extremism and antisemitism. Most recently, a deal signed by Columbia and the federal government has been flouted as the “blueprint” for other universities trying to come to an agreement with the federal government.
That agreement, signed last week, included a lot of the same terms as Brown’s agreement. The deal involves the restoration of $1.3 billion in frozen funds to the university, and in return, the university agreed to pay the federal government $221 million, institute measures to prevent antisemitic behavior, and eliminate the use of race, sex, color, or national origin in their admissions process.
