Federal government brokers $50 million agreement with Brown University, reinstating financial assistance
In a significant development, the Trump administration has reached a multimillion-dollar agreement with Brown University, marking a potential blueprint for other universities in the United States. The agreement, worth $50 million in grants over 10 years, does not involve any payments or fines to the federal government.
The deal, announced this week, comes as the Trump administration focuses on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies and responses to alleged antisemitism on campus in its dealings with universities. The agreement does not give the government the authority to dictate Brown's curriculum or the content of academic speech.
The funding freeze on Brown University's federal research funding was not previously communicated to the university. The federal government will reinstate all frozen grants from the Department of Health and Human Services to Brown University.
Brown University has agreed to take steps to improve the campus climate for Jewish students, but it did not violate any law, as stated by Brown's President Christina Paxson. The school has also agreed not to engage in unlawful racial discrimination in admissions or university programming.
Interestingly, Brown University's health facilities will not perform gender reassignment surgeries on minors or prescribe them puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones, although the reasons for this decision are not explicitly stated.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon stated that the agreement with Brown is a move to reverse the "woke-capture" of higher education institutions. However, it's important to note that this agreement does not set a precedent for other private universities, such as Columbia University and Harvard University, as there is no public evidence of similar agreements between these institutions and the Trump administration.
The Trump administration is engaged in lawsuits with Harvard University over DEI policies and responses to alleged antisemitism on campus, but no specific agreements or contracts have been made public. Similarly, the administration has launched investigations into Duke University, Duke University School of Medicine, and the Duke Law Journal, but the outcomes of these investigations are yet to be disclosed.
In a broader context, President Trump issued executive orders banning DEI programs after his inauguration, mandating the elimination of such initiatives across the federal government and influencing federally funded institutions. However, the search results did not mention any direct or specific agreements with Brown, Columbia, or Harvard—private universities that would not be bound by state university compliance measures cited in the results.
[1] University of Arizona, Arizona State University, and Northern Arizona University removed DEI language from official statements and websites in compliance with the Trump administration’s executive orders banning DEI programs. [2] The executive orders mandated the elimination of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility initiatives across the federal government and influenced federally funded institutions broadly.
- The agreement with Brown University, while focusing on improving the campus climate for Jewish students and reversing the perceived "woke-capture" of higher education institutions, does not dictate the university's curriculum or academic speech, according to its President, Christina Paxson.
- While the Trump administration is engaged in lawsuits with private universities like Harvard University over DEI policies and responses to alleged antisemitism on campus, there is no public evidence of similar agreements or contracts to those seen with Brown University, unlike other educational and self-development matters that involve politics and general news.
