Brown University Reaches Deal With Trump Admin to Restore Federal Funding

Brown University has reached a deal with the Trump administration under which it will pay $50 million to restore lost federal funding.

The $50 million payout will go to workforce development organizations in Rhode Island. In exchange, the Ivy League university will have federal research funding restored, and the administration will end investigations into alleged discrimination at the university.

Under the deal, Brown will adopt the government’s definition of “male” and “female” in line with an executive order signed by President Donald Trump. That order defined the terms by one’s sex.

The university will also remove any consideration of race from the admissions process.

Additionally, the school accepted several measures intended to address allegations of antisemitism on its Providence, Rhode Island campus, including a renewal of partnerships with Israeli academics, encouraging Jewish students to apply to the school, and hiring an outside organization to oversee the campus climate for Jewish students moving forward.

Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon said the deal ensures students will be judged “solely on their merits, not their race or sex.”

Brown President Christina H. Paxson said the deal would preserve Brown’s independence. Included in the deal are terms that prohibit the government from dictating curriculum or the content of academic speech at the school.

“The University’s foremost priority throughout discussions with the government was remaining true to our academic mission, our core values and who we are as a community at Brown,” Paxson wrote.

The three-year deal restores dozens of grants and contracts that had been suspended while negotiations were ongoing. Brown will be reimbursed for $50 million in unpaid federal grant costs under the agreement, zeroing out the deal’s impact on Brown’s finances.

Paxson said that the deal would resolve concerns that had been raised by the federal government without sacrificing the school’s values or autonomy.

“We stand solidly behind commitments we repeatedly have affirmed to protect all members of our community from harassment and discrimination, and we protect the ability of our faculty and students to study and learn academic subjects of their choosing, free from censorship,” she wrote.

It’s the latest deal between the administration and an Ivy League school.

The administration has accused several of the nation’s top universities of being home to anti-Semitic activities and discriminatory practices, and has used the threat of withdrawn funding and student visa access to force changes at the schools.

The administration’s deal with Brown shares some similarities with a deal the administration signed with Columbia University last week.

Under the deal, Columbia will pay $200 million to resolve allegations that it discriminated against Jewish students, in exchange for the restoration of federal grants worth $400 million.