Brown Kills DEI Programs, Regains $50M In Federal Funding
Since taking office in January, President Trump has wasted no time in weaponizing federal funds to force schools to drop their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. On Wednesday, Brown secured $50 million in frozen federal research grants after becoming the latest university to abandon its DEI programs.
According to CNN, the Trump administration agreed to restore research grants from the Department of Health and Human Services, drop an investigation into the school, and allow Brown to be eligible to receive future federal funds. For its part of the deal, Brown agreed to pay out $50 million in grants to Rhode Island-based workforce development programs, adopt the Trump administration’s definition of “male” and “female,” and not engage in unlawful racial discrimination in admissions or university programming.”
Of course, by “unlawful racial discrimination,” they mean continuing programs dedicated to DEI. Brown agreed to submit data to the federal government to prove they’re not engaging in race-based admissions. Brown also agreed to make the school’s campus more hospitable for Jewish students, which likely means silencing any criticism of Israel.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon praised the deal, saying it’s a step towards reversing “the decades-long woke-capture of our nation’s higher education institutions.” You know, I liked McMahon much better when she was poorly selling Stone Cold Stunners and not single-handedly dismantling decades of progress in the American education system.
President Trump celebrated the deal in a post on Truth Social. “Congratulations to Brown University on the settlement made with the United States Government. There will be no more Anti-Semitism, or Anti-Christian, or Anti-Anything Else!” Trump wrote. “Woke is officially DEAD at Brown. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
You know, I liked Trump much better when he was poorly selling Stone Cold Stunners and not continually making me embarrassed that America is where I call home.
This is the second such deal the Trump administration has reached within a week, as the administration also reached a settlement with Columbia University. In that deal, Columbia similarly agreed to drop its DEI initiatives and end race-based admissions. Columbia also agreed to pay a $200 million fine to the federal government and another $21 million to settle an investigation by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Columbia caught Trump’s ire almost as soon as his first term began over the pro-Palestine protests that had taken place at the school. In response to the President’s criticism, the university canceled a course on the role race plays in the media and sanctioned students who participated in pro-Palestine protests.
The Trump administration has taken a pronounced focus on DEI initiatives in colleges and universities. In February, the Department of Education (DOE) sent a “Dear Colleague” letter to several schools threatening their federal funding if they continued with their DEI initiatives. The DOE teamed up with the Justice Department to launch the “Civil Rights Fraud Initiative” wtih the sole purpose of investigating whether schools are complying with the Trump administration’s anti-DEI mandate.
The result has been several people losing their jobs, countless schools shuttering their DEI departments, and several schools even pulling back from the long-held tradition of affinity graduations.
Could you imagine if the federal government put the same amount of effort into solving the cost of living crisis as they do into making it harder for Black and brown students to get an education? What a world that could be.
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