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Friday, April 4, 2025
US official says $510 million in grants for Brown to be frozen over campus antisemitism
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The administration of President Donald Trump plans to freeze $510 million in grants to Brown University over what it calls antisemitism on campus, a US official tells Reuters, but the university says it has not yet been formally notified.
The administration’s action makes Brown the latest academic institution targeted by Trump over this issue. The US Education Department sent a letter last month to 60 universities, including Brown, warning it could bring enforcement actions against them.
The US official speaks on condition of anonymity.
Trump has threatened to slash federal funding for universities over allegations of antisemitism during pro-Palestinian campus protests against US ally Israel over the war with Hamas in Gaza.
Trump has called the protesters antisemitic, and has labeled them as sympathetic to Hamas terrorists and as foreign policy threats.
Protesters, including some Jewish groups, say the Trump administration wrongly conflates their criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza and advocacy for Palestinian rights with antisemitism and support for Hamas.
In an email to campus leaders shared by a Brown University spokesperson, its provost, Frank Doyle, says the university is aware of “troubling rumors emerging about federal action on Brown research grants” but added it had “no information to substantiate any of these rumors.”
“We are closely monitoring notifications related to grants, but have nothing more we can share as of now,” he adds.
The Times of Israel Community.