Beril Canakci
04 April 2025•Update: 04 April 2025
ISTANBUL
The Trump administration is considering freezing $510 million in grants to Brown University as it reviews the top-tier Ivy League school's handling of alleged antisemitism and its diversity, equity, and inclusion policies, a right-wing website reported on Thursday.
The move follows a February warning from the Education Department to 60 institutions, including Brown, stating that federal action could be taken if they failed to meet their obligations under the Civil Rights Act to protect Jewish students, according to a report by The Daily Caller.
Brown is already under federal monitoring due to a prior civil rights investigation and agreement with the department, the report said.
An administration official told The Daily Caller that the funding freeze would remain in place during the review, mirroring a similar decision earlier this week to halt $210 million in grants to Princeton University as it faces a probe into alleged antisemitism.
The investigation into Princeton dates back to the Biden administration, which launched a civil rights probe in 2024 following a complaint by Campus Reform, a conservative website. The complaint alleged that Princeton failed to address antisemitic incidents, including an October 2023 pro-Palestinian walkout where students chanted, “Brick by brick, wall by wall, apartheid has got to fall.”
President Donald Trump has pledged to cut federal funding to colleges accused of tolerating alleged antisemitism. The administration has linked funding reviews to protests over the Gaza Strip, where Israeli attacks since October 2023 have killed more than 50,300 Palestinians. It has suggested that criticizing the policies of the Israeli government is tantamount to antisemitism, an idea that critics of Israel – many of them Jews themselves – firmly reject.
The Education Department is investigating Brown University and more than 50 other schools for alleged antisemitic harassment and discrimination.
