The Trump administration is planning to halt more than half a billion dollars in contracts and grants awarded to Brown University, adding to a list of Ivy League colleges that have had their federal money threatened as a result of their responses to alleged anti-Semitism, a White House official has said.
Nearly $510 million in federal contracts and grants are on the line, said the official on Thursday, who was not authorised to speak publicly about the plan and spoke on condition of anonymity.
In an email on Thursday to campus leaders, Brown University’s Provost Frank Doyle said the university was aware of "troubling rumors" about government action on its research money.
"At this moment, we have no information to substantiate any of these rumors," Doyle said.
It comes two days after Trump administration halted research grants at Princeton University.
Princeton said the government froze several dozen research grants to the school. The Trump administration is also reviewing $9 billion in federal contracts and grants awarded to Harvard University.
Dozens of other universities are facing federal investigations following a wave of pro-Palestine and anti-genocide protests last year, but the administration has focused special attention on elite colleges.
In private WhatsApp group, hundreds of members of Columbia Alumni for Israel and far-right Zionists discuss how to report pro-Palestine protesters to law enforcement and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, The Intercept reports.
Aggressive approach
Columbia University was the first one targeted, losing $400 million in federal money with Trump administration threatening to terminate more if it didn't make the campus "safer for Jewish students."
The school agreed to several demands from the government last month, including an overhaul of student discipline rules and a review of the school's Middle East studies department.
Trump administration has promised a more aggressive approach against student protestors, accusing former President Joe Biden of letting schools off the hook.
It has opened new anti-Semitism investigations at colleges and detained and deported several foreign students who took part in anti-war and pro-Palestine protests.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have detained some foreign student protesters in recent weeks and are working to deport them.
Human rights advocates and academic experts have condemned the moves as an assault on free speech and academic freedom.
Rights advocates have also raised concerns about Islamophobia and anti-Arab bias during Israel’s war on Palestine’s Gaza.
Trump administration has also targeted schools over other culture war issues like diversity, equity, and inclusion programmes.
