Brown University Reaches Agreement With US Government

Brown University has reached an agreement with the U.S. government to restore funding, making the third such agreement between the prestigious Ivy League Universities in a month over discrimination complaints.

In the agreement, Brown, in Providence, Rhode Island, has agreed to pay $50 million to state-level workforce initiatives over 10 years in a deal that restores lost federal funding for research and ends investigations into sexual and racial discrimination.

In addition, Brown has agreed to make several policy adjustments, for instance, adopting the government’s definition of “male” and “female” for athletes and on-campus housing, adhering to NCAA rules, and in accordance with Title IX.

This includes offering the choice of male and female bathrooms and female-only floors in dormitories.

The University will also not engage in any activities involving gender affirming care, which includes gender reassignment surgery or prescribing puberty blockers to minors.

Title IX is a 1972 law that prohibits sexual discrimination in any education program or activity receiving federal funding, in which the government alleges that Ivy League universities have been in violation by not adhering to the traditional gender distinctions.

Under the agreement, Brown will also take measures to address anti-Semitism on campus.

State-wide protests swept the nation in 2024 over Israel’s military response to the Hamas terrorist group’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

Brown President Christina H. Paxson responded with a statement, agreeing that the agreement “preserves Brown’s academic independence” without admitting any fault.

“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.

U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon has applauded the agreement.

“The Trump Administration is successfully reversing the decades-long woke-capture of our nation’s higher education institutions,” she wrote in a statement.

“Restoring our nation’s higher education institutions to places dedicated to truth-seeking, academic merit, and civil debate—where all students can learn free from discrimination and harassment—will be a lasting legacy of the Trump administration, one that will benefit students and American society for generations to come.”

Columbia University reached a similar agreement, announcing on July 25 that it will pay $200 million to address allegations of violating anti-discrimination laws against Jewish students.

In March, the U.S. government severed $400 million in grants to Columbia over its failure to address anti-Semitic harassment of Jewish students on campus during the protests.

On July 1, the University of Pennsylvania agreed to modify school records set by transgender swimmer Lia Thomas to avoid a fine and make an official apology to female athletes who had been affected.

Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass, is currently in discussions with the federal government over similar allegations.

The Department of Justice on July 29 also found the University of California, Los Angeles, to be in violation of civil rights over its failure to deal with harassment and abuse of Jewish and Israeli students during the protests.