Brown University will regain access to millions of dollars in frozen federal research contracts and pay $50 million for workforce development in an agreement with the Trump administration that resolves its anti-discrimination claims against the Ivy League university.
The deal announced Wednesday also requires Brown to end race-based discrimination in admissions and campus programs; keep biological males out of female sports, locker rooms and restrooms, and combat campus antisemitism by providing a safe and welcoming environment for Jewish students.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon said the agreement shows how the administration is ‘”successfully reversing decades-long woke-capture of our nation’s higher education institutions.
“Because of the Trump Administration’s resolution agreement with Brown University, aspiring students will be judged solely on their merits, not their race or sex,” she said in a statement. “Brown has committed to proactive measures to protect Jewish students and combat Antisemitism on campus. Women’s sports and intimate facilities will be protected for women and Title IX will be enforced as it was intended.”
Brown President Christina Paxson emphasized that the agreement includes no admission of liability and preserves the institution’s academic independence by affirming that the “government does not have the authority to dictate teaching, learning and academic speech.”
“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,” said Ms. Paxson in a statement.
She said the university was hit hard by the freeze on contracts and grants enacted in April, primarily those with the National Institutes for Health, which comprise 70% of the university’s federal research funding.
“The unreimbursed funds currently total more than $50 million, and this amount had been increasing by approximately $3.5 million per week,” Ms. Paxon said. “This comes in addition to the outright termination of eight federal contracts and more than 30 federal grants.”
By entering into the agreement, Brown ensured that the administration “will end the large-scale freeze that ultimately had implications for hundreds of millions of dollars of federal funding to Brown.”
“Our researchers will again be fully eligible for federal funding moving forward, and the government will reimburse the University — and ensure ongoing funding flows — for the existing active grants within 30 days,” she said.
The $50 million in grants will be dispersed over 10 years to workplace development organizations in Rhode Island, a venture “aligned with our service and community engagement mission,” she said.
The resolution agreement is similar to the deal struck last week with Columbia University to settle anti-discrimination claims, albeit on a smaller scale.
Columbia agreed to pay $221 million to the federal government, which includes a $21 million fund administered by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to resolve antisemitism complaints against Jewish students, faculty and others.
Unlike Columbia, Brown’s compliance with the agreement will not be overseen by an outside monitor.
Brown’s efforts to address antisemitism include hiring an independent party to conduct a campus climate survey as well as evaluate social media harassment. The survey must be completed by Dec. 31.
The questions will include whether students feel comfortable reporting antisemitism on campus and whether they believe Brown has responded appropriately to complaints about alleged antisemitic conduct.
Brown also agreed not to provide gender-transition drugs or surgeries to those under 18.
The agreement was signed by Ms. McMahon and Ms. Paxon, as well as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr; Attorney General Pamela Bondi.
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.