Trump administration moves to block $510 million in federal funding to Brown University over campus antisemitism concerns

Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.

The Trump administration in the US plans to block up to $510 million in federal contracts and grants to Brown University, significantly escalating its campaign to penalise elite academic institutions it accuses of allowing antisemitism to fester on campus, according to two White House officials familiar with the plan, the New York Times reported.

Brown, a member of the Ivy League, is the latest addition to a growing list of institutions under fire from the administration. It follows actions against Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania, Harvard, and Princeton. If the funding pause at Brown is fully enforced, it could dramatically affect the university’s ability to conduct scientific and medical research. Brown received roughly $184 million in federal grants and contracts in its 2024 fiscal year, which would make a prolonged suspension of funding deeply disruptive to its research operations.

University officials respond to reports

Brown officials said they had not received formal confirmation of the administration’s plans. In an email to campus leaders, Brown’s provost, Frank Doyle, addressed what he called “troubling rumours emerging about federal action on Brown research grants,” but emphasised that there was “no information to substantiate any of these rumours.”

The news was first reported by The Daily Caller, a conservative outlet that has closely tracked the administration’s efforts to pressure elite universities.

Part of broader crackdown on elite institutions

The targeting of Brown is part of a broader, aggressive strategy led by Education Secretary Linda McMahon, who has stated that federal support is a “privilege” that universities risk losing if they fail to uphold civil rights law. McMahon has echoed President Trump’s repeated accusations that elite institutions have become hostile to conservative viewpoints and insufficiently responsive to rising antisemitism on their campuses.

Brown, like many Ivy League schools, experienced campus tensions over the war in Gaza. But it became one of the few universities to reach agreements with students to end their spring protest encampments. The university also allowed a board vote on divestment from Israel—though the Brown Corporation ultimately rejected divestment, citing a lack of direct investments in the companies flagged by protesters.

Universities defend academic freedom

After the Trump administration announced cuts to other universities last month, Brown stood out for issuing a public defence of academic freedom. Brown president Christina H. Paxson warned that some of the administration’s demands “raise new and previously unthinkable questions about the future of academic freedom and self-governance.” She added that if the university’s core academic functions were threatened, Brown “would be compelled to vigorously exercise our legal rights to defend these freedoms.”

Brown has also been considering the adoption of a new policy aimed at limiting university statements on political or social issues that are “unrelated to its mission”—a move toward institutional neutrality that mirrors steps taken by other schools facing pressure over their response to pro-Palestinian activism.

Federal task force expands investigations

The federal campaign against universities began in February, when a newly formed task force on antisemitism listed 10 universities for investigation. The administration cited concerns that these schools had failed to protect Jewish students and faculty during the 2023–2024 wave of pro-Palestinian demonstrations. The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights later expanded the list to include 60 colleges across the US.

Columbia University was the first to be affected, losing $400 million in federal funding on March 7 after protests disrupted campus life. In the following weeks, the Trump administration paused $175 million in funding to the University of Pennsylvania, initiated a review of $9 billion in grants and contracts connected to Harvard and its affiliates, and suspended dozens of grants to Princeton.

Before Princeton was targeted, its president, Christopher L. Eisgruber, had warned that the federal pressure campaign represented “the greatest threat to American universities since the Red Scare of the 1950s.”

Academic community fears long-term damage

University leaders and higher education advocates have voiced growing concern that the federal crackdown could have lasting consequences for the country’s scientific and technological leadership. Many of the affected grants fund medical research, technological innovation, and global health initiatives—areas where US universities have historically led.

With Brown now in the administration’s crosshairs, other institutions on the federal watch list are bracing for similar actions.