WASHINGTON (AP) — Brown University will pay $50 million to Rhode Island workforce development organizations in a deal with the Trump administration that restores lost federal research funding and ends investigations into alleged discrimination, officials said Wednesday.
The university also agreed to several concessions in line with President Donald Trump’s political agenda. Brown will adopt the government’s definition of “male” and “female,” for example, and must remove any consideration of race from the admissions process.
Brown President Christina H. Paxson said the deal preserves Brown’s academic independence. The terms include a clause saying the government cannot dictate curriculum or the content of academic speech at Brown.
“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.
It is the latest deal between an Ivy League school and the Trump administration, which has used its control of federal funding to push for reforms at colleges he decries as overrun by liberalism and antisemitism.
The deal has numerous similarities with one signed last week by Columbia University, which the government called a roadmap for other universities. Unlike that agreement, however, Brown’s does not include an outside monitor.
The three-year agreement with Brown restores dozens of suspended grants and contracts. It also calls for the federal government to reimburse Brown for $50 million in unpaid federal grant costs.
The settlement puts an end to three federal investigations involving allegations of antisemitism and racial bias in Brown admissions, with no finding of wrongdoing. In a campus letter, Paxson anticipated questions about why the university would settle if it didn’t violate the law. She noted Brown has faced financial pressure from federal agencies along with “a growing push for government intrusion” in academics.
Signing the agreement resolves the government’s concerns without sacrificing university values, she said.