Trump to hit Brown with $510 million funding freeze, NYT says

Janet Lorin, Bloomberg News on Apr 3, 2025

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The Trump administration is poised to block $510 million in federal grants and contracts for Brown University over the school’s response to antisemitism on campus, The New York Times reported.

Following the report, Brown Provost Frank Doyle said in an email that the school couldn’t substantiate the information but was aware of “troubling rumors” about federal action against its funding. The potential freeze follows similar moves by the U.S. government against Columbia, Harvard and Princeton, Brown’s Ivy League peers.

Brown is particularly vulnerable to any funding disruption because its finances are already strained. The school has dipped into its endowment as increases in financial aid and staff salaries pressure its budget, an approach it has said is unsustainable. Brown operates a medical school and school of public health that draws federal research grants.

President Donald Trump has hammered colleges for their handling of antisemitism after students protests roiled campuses following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas on Israel and the Jewish state’s retaliatory response in Gaza. The crackdown has stirred concerns among faculty and students that the government is suppressing free speech and academic freedom, and risking damage to research and innovation.

In March, the Trump administration canceled $400 million in funding for Columbia and threatened $9 billion in grants and contracts at Harvard. Princeton said earlier this week that dozens of research grants were suspended.

The government also froze $175 million in funding to the University of Pennsylvania, citing policies allowing transgender athletes to compete in women’s sports.

Brown, based in Providence, Rhode Island, was one of a handful of colleges that negotiated with student protesters who took over parts of campuses last year. It also agreed to consider a proposal to exclude holdings tied to Israel from its $7.2 billion endowment, although its trustees rejected the proposal. Brown has the smallest endowment among the eight Ivy League schools.