According to reports in the New York Times, the Trump administration plans to cut a $510 million grant intended for Brown University. As in the case of Columbia, which was temporarily denied $400 million in grants, the government made this decision because of the university’s “inability” to combat anti-Semitism.
In an email sent Thursday to campus leaders, Brown’s provost, Frank Doyle, said the university is aware of “troubling rumors emerging about federal action on Brown research grants”, but he added that he had “no information to substantiate any of these rumors.”
The newly appointed Secretary of Education, Linda McMahon, has been explicit about the administration’s focus on universities, stating that support of federal funds should be considered a “privilege,” which can be withdrawn if the various universities fail to comply with civil rights laws. Like many other Ivy League colleges, Brown was the scene of protests over the war in Gaza, but it was also one of the few universities that made agreements with students to end their demonstrations.
Earlier in the week, Christina H. Paxson, president of the university, said some of Trump’s demands “raise new and previously unthinkable questions about the future of academic freedom and self-governance.” If Brown’s essential academic and operational functions were threatened, the university “would be compelled to vigorously exercise our legal rights to defend these freedoms.”
Recently, the college has also considered adopting a new policy that would limit its statements on political and social issues “unrelated to its mission.”
Brown is not the only university to be targeted by the government in the past week. On Thursday, the federal administration forwarded a series of demands to Harvard University. If these are not met, the university stands to lose a mammoth $9 billion worth of federal funds. The conditions dictated by the government are almost identical to those imposed on Columbia in recent days.
Harvard will also have to commit to full cooperation with the Department of Homeland Security, the agency that enforces immigration policies, including deportations. In the Trump administration’s letter, it states that the university has “fundamentally failed to protect American students and faculty from antisemitic violence” and that it expected “immediate cooperation in implementing these critical reforms.”
On Monday, Alan Garber, Harvard’s president, said the university has devoted “significant efforts” over the past 15 months to address anti-Semitism, adding that there is still much work to be done. Garber also said the university will cooperate with the administration, but explained that the cancellation of federal funding will jeopardize important scientific research and innovations.
