The Trump administration is set to cease over $500 million in contracts and grants allocated to Brown University, joining other Ivy League institutions whose federal funding has been jeopardized due to their handling of antisemitism, a White House official revealed on Thursday.
Approximately $510 million in federal contracts and grants are at risk, according to the official, who requested anonymity as they were not authorized to discuss the plan publicly.
In a communication to campus leaders on Thursday, Brown Provost Frank Doyle acknowledged the existence of concerning rumors about potential government actions affecting the university’s research funding. “At this time, we have no concrete information to substantiate these rumors,” stated Doyle.
Brown will become the fifth Ivy League university to be targeted by President Donald Trump’s administration, which is using federal funds to enforce its policies at academic institutions. Numerous universities, including all Ivy League schools except Penn and Dartmouth, are under federal scrutiny for instances of antisemitism following a series of pro-Palestinian demonstrations last year.
Columbia University was the initial target, losing $400 million in federal funding with conditions to further cut ties if improvements were not made to ensure the safety of Jewish students on campus. The university recently agreed to several demands from the government, such as revising student disciplinary procedures and conducting a review of the Middle East studies department.
The University of Pennsylvania had around $175 million in federal funding suspended over a transgender swimmer case. Harvard University is currently under review for nearly $9 billion in federal grants and contracts due to allegations of antisemitism, as announced by a federal antisemitism task force. Additionally, Princeton University reported that the administration had paused numerous research grants.
The heightened pressure is creating a challenging situation for U.S. colleges, which heavily rely on federal research funding as a key revenue source.
Trump’s administration has pledged a more assertive stance against campus antisemitism, criticizing former President Joe Biden for leniency towards educational institutions. New investigations have been launched at colleges, and foreign students linked to pro-Palestinian protests have been detained and deported. Last month, an incoming assistant professor of medicine at Brown was deported to Lebanon for openly expressing support for a Hezbollah leader and attending his funeral, as stated by the Department of Homeland Security.
During last year’s student protests against the Israel-Hamas conflict, Brown made headlines for striking a deal with student activists. In exchange for dismantling an encampment, the university agreed to have its governing board vote on divesting from companies allegedly involved in the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.
