President Donald Trump seems to be going after Brown University next. Trump reportedly has threatened to freeze $500 million in grants from Brown University. This move appears to be the latest in the Trump administration’s effort to battle antisemitism in university campuses.
In an email to campus leaders on Thursday shared by a Brown University spokesperson, the school’s provost, Frank Doyle, said the university was aware of “troubling rumors emerging about federal action on Brown research grants” but added it had “no information to substantiate any of these rumors,” according to the Guardian.
“We are closely monitoring notifications related to grants, but have nothing more we can share as of now,” he added.
In a letter shared publicly on the university’s site, the president Christina H Paxson, said that Brown would not buckle under pressure. She added that the nation has witnessed what many in higher education fear may be only the first examples of unprecedented government demands placed on a private university as a condition for restoring federal funding.
READ: Trump cuts $175 million in funding to University of Pennsylvania (March 20, 2025)
She went on to say that if Brown faced such actions directly impacting their ability to perform essential academic and operational functions then they would be compelled to exercise their legal rights to defend these freedoms, and true to their values, they would do so with integrity and respect.
Brown University grants and funding: Overview
Brown University receives hundreds of millions of dollars in external funding annually. This funding comes from a variety of sources, including federal agencies, private foundations, corporations, and non-profit organizations.
These funds support research, academic programs, and initiatives across various fields such as healthcare, engineering, social sciences, and humanities. The total amount varies year by year, but it typically exceeds $200 million annually. This financial support helps advance Brown’s research initiatives and academic excellence.
The government crackdown on top universities such as Columbia, Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, and others has been prevalent with the Trump administration threatening to cancel federal funding over antisemitism and DEI policies.