Brown University Declines to Sign Trump Admin’s Compact for Preferred Federal Funding

University President Christina Paxson said the agreement would ’restrict academic freedom and undermine the autonomy of Brown’s governance.’

The Main Green at Brown University in Providence, R.I., on March 17, 2025. Scott Eisen/Getty Images

Brown University became the second of nine schools to decline the Trump administration’s Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.

In an Oct. 15 letter to the White House, Brown President Christina H. Paxson said the agreement has “no safeguards for protecting academic speech” and would “restrict academic freedom and undermine the autonomy of Brown’s governance,” impeding her school’s ability to fulfill its mission as a research institution.