Brown Becomes Second School To Reject Trump’s Funding Deal

Topline

Brown University became the second high-profile university to turn down the Trump administration’s “Compact For Academic Excellence in Higher Education” — a deal that offers special funding advantages for schools that make policy changes aligned with President Donald Trump’s education agenda.

Brown declined the compact Wednesday afternoon.

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Key Facts

Brown University president Christina H. Paxson declined the deal in a letter to federal officials Wednesday, saying in a statement its “various provisions would restrict academic freedom and undermine the autonomy of Brown’s governance, critically compromising our ability to fulfill our mission.”

The “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” was sent to Brown and a handful of other large universities this month.

Paxson noted Brown’s recent $50 million settlement with the Trump administration to unfreeze federal funds and squash discrimination allegations against it, saying the terms of the settlement advance “a number of the high-level principles articulated in the Compact.”

Paxson also said the settlement also affirms “the government’s lack of authority to dictate our curriculum or the content of academic speech—a principle that is not reflected in the Compact.”

Paxson said a cover letter describing the compact floats the idea of funding university research on the Trump administration’s own criteria instead of “the soundness and likely impact of research.”

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What Schools Were Initially Offered The Compact?

In addition to Brown and MIT, the compact was also sent to The University of Arizona, Brown University, Dartmouth College, the University of Texas, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Southern California, Vanderbilt University and the University of Virginia. Brown and MIT are the only institutions to explicitly reject the compact, while the University of Texas said it was “honored” to receive the offer, though the school has not committed to it.

What Does The Compact Ask Schools To Change?

The compact offers funding advantages in exchange for policy changes that align with the president’s agenda. The compact notably asks for the removal of or changes to university departments that “purposefully punish, belittle, and even spark violence against conservative ideas.” The deal demands a five-year freeze on tuition, a cap on international student enrollment, SAT requirements for applicants and a ban against the use of race and sex in hiring and admissions processes. It also asks universities to adhere to the government’s binary definition of gender and apply it to restrooms and sports.

What To Watch For

The Trump administration reportedly sent the compact to all higher education institutions after MIT turned it down, according to Bloomberg.

Key Background

The Trump administration’s push for colleges to agree to its compact follows a wide-ranging attack against federal funding for some of the country’s most prestigious universities. As part of a sweeping antisemitism investigation linked to pro-Palestinian protests on several campuses last year, the administration froze billions of dollars in funding for schools including Brown, Columbia University, Harvard University, Cornell University, Princeton University and the University of California Los Angeles. Institutions like Columbia and Brown agreed to settlements to get their funding back, with the former university agreeing to pay $221 million and make changes to some of its protest, security and educational policies. The University of Pennsylvania settled with the government and agreed to ban transgender athletes from women’s sports after the Education Department alleged Title IX violations.