Brown University reached an agreement with the Trump administration Wednesday to restore $510 million in federal funds that were frozen amid a probe into possible civil rights violations at the Ivy League school.
As part of the deal, Brown University will contribute $50 million to “workforce development organizations” in the state; end programs that promote “race-based outcomes, quotas, diversity targets or similar efforts”; and maintain “women-only and men-only” facilities and sports teams on campus.
“The Trump Administration is successfully reversing the decades-long woke-capture of our nation’s higher education institutions,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement.
“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,” McMahon continued. “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 University President Christina Paxson noted that as part of the agreement, there is “no finding or admission of wrongdoing” on the part of the Rhode Island 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 in a letter to the university community announcing the agreement.
“This is reflected in key provisions of the resolution agreement preserving our academic independence, as well as a commitment to pay $50 million in grants over 10 years to workforce development organizations in Rhode Island, which is aligned with our service and community engagement mission,” she added.
In March, Paxson indicated that she was willing to strike a deal that would allow Brown to uphold “ethical and legal obligations under Title VI and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964” and “defend academic freedom and freedom of expression.”
“By voluntarily entering this agreement, we meet those dual obligations,” Paxson said Wednesday. “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.”
Paxson added, “We applaud the agreement’s unequivocal assertion that the agreement does not give the government the ‘authority to dictate Brown’s curriculum or the content of academic speech.’”
The university has taken out $800 million in loans since the Trump administration announced the funding freeze for federal grants and contracts in April, according to Bloomberg.
The Trump administration had been investigating Brown’s response to alleged cases of antisemitism on its Providence, R.I., campus, as well as the institution’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies.
Brown was one of 60 colleges and universities that the Department of Education’s civil rights arm warned earlier this month could have federal funding taken away over alleged antisemitic discrimination and harassment on campus.
The private institution’s $7.2 billion endowment is the lowest among schools in the Ivy League. Brown also reported a $42 million budget deficit in 2024, which the school expects “to grow significantly in the near term.”
The Trump administration previously froze about $400 million in federal funds from Columbia University and clawed back $2.6 billion from Harvard University over antisemitism concerns.
Columbia agreed to pay a $200 million fine earlier this week to restore funding, and Harvard is in talks to settle with the Trump administration for as much as $500 million.
“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,” McMahon said.
