Months-long Brown funding freeze ends as school, Trump administration reach agreement

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — Brown University has reached an agreement with the Trump Administration to restore federal funding for medical and health sciences research.

In the agreement, Brown will receive reinstatement payments for its current research grants and be able to compete for new federal grants and contracts.

According to Brown University President Christina Paxson, a federal funding freeze that began in April “posed enormous challenges for Brown’s research mission” and would have “undermined our ability to conduct life-saving research.”

On Wednesday, Brown University and the government came to the agreement, which the university said was voluntary.

Brown University said the agreement has the following provisions:

• Affirming that the government does not have the authority to dictate teaching, learning, and academic speech
• Restoration of Brown’s medical and health sciences research  funding and ability to compete for grants, including reimbursement of more than $50 million in unpaid federal grant costs
• Permanent closure of current open reviews and investigations of the University’s federal compliance with antidiscrimination laws, with no finding of wrongdoing
• Brown payment of $50 million in grants over 10 years to Rhode Island workforce development organizations, which is aligned with the University’s service mission
• Addressing compliance with Title IX, including “male” and “female” designations for athletics and on-campus housing, consistent with NCAA requirements and Brown’s current policies, as well as provisions on gender-affirming care for minors
• Codifying Brown’s sustained commitment to initiatives, programs and services to ensure a thriving Jewish community, and launching a third-party campus climate survey
• Reaffirming our commitment to compliance with nondiscrimination laws — encompassing admissions and all diversity and inclusion efforts — with requirements for providing data and compliance reports to the government

“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,”’ Paxson said.

U.S. Department of Education Secretary Linda McMahon shared the following statement on the agreement:

“The Trump Administration is successfully reversing the 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. 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.

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.”

For more information on the agreement and Brown President Paxson’s letter, visit Brown University’s Website here.