In a bid to reclaim frozen federal funding, Brown University is now the third Ivy League campus to do so.
The agreement, which was made public on Wednesday, is the most recent instance of a top US school bargaining with the president and agreeing to his demands.
Brown will receive $ 50 million over ten years to improve Rhode Island’s workforce development programs as part of the deal. Additionally, it will commit to supporting its neighborhood’s Jewish community and restricting transgender students’ acceptance.
The Trump administration’s decision to withhold federal funding from prestigious universities in an effort to combat anti-Semitism and “woke” ideology has sparked a wider campaign.
Despite the administration’s claims that its actions are politically motivated and out of step with reality, opponents claim that many administrators feel as though they have no choice but to accept the pressures of funding.
The University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University both signed separate agreements with Trump earlier this month.
Trump’s position on transgender athletes was respected by Columbia, but the University of Pennsylvania agreed to do so in exchange for paying a $200 million settlement.
Similar to how his administration handled Brown, his administration cut funds and began investigations into both schools.
Brown President Christina Paxson asserted in a statement that the agreement protects the institution’s academic independence.
She made a point about the government’s right to control Brown’s curriculum and speech content.
According to Paxson, “maintenance of the University’s discussions with the government was remaining true to our academic mission, our core values, and who we are as a Brown community.”
The controversial Columbia University agreement also has a number of similarities to the controversial agreement, including measures to stop alleged anti-Semitism following widespread protests against Israel’s occupation of Gaza.
Advocates have accused the Trump administration of purposefully demeaning the demonstrations to silence pro-Palestine voices.
According to the new agreement, Brown will need to “support a vibrant Jewish community, research and education about Israel, and a robust Program in Judaic Studies.”
To maintain a welcoming campus climate, including for Jewish faculty and students, it will also need to conduct a survey.
The agreement also addresses Trump’s other priorities, including his opposition to having transgender athletes play sports teams and campus housing that reflect their gender identities.
On January 20, Trump signed an executive order mandating that only the male and female sexes would be recognized, completely rejecting transgender identity.
The president has also tried to stop diversity initiatives, claiming that they are inherently discriminatory.
The school agreed to provide a trove of data on the race, grades, and standardized test scores of students who applied and were accepted to the university for a “comprehensive audit” in his government’s agreement with Brown.
Brown is also prohibited from using any “proxy for racial admission,” such as personal statements or “diversity narratives,” in the agreement.
However, Brown evaded a request from Columbia that an independent monitor be appointed to check compliance with the agreement.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon said the agreement demonstrated how successfully the Trump administration had “reversed the decades-long woke-capture of our nation’s higher education institutions.”
The Trump administration will pay the $50 million in unpaid federal grant costs as part of the deal, despite Brown’s commitment to invest $50 million in workforce development in Rhode Island.
The Trump administration’s projected withholding of the school’s nearly $ 510 million in grants and research funding.
Administrators reportedly said this week that they were willing to spend up to $500 million to reach a deal, but the president is still locked in a standoff with Harvard University.
Source: Aljazeera
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