Brown University Rejects White House Deal for Special Treatment

Brown University has rejected a deal offered by the White House to receive preferential treatment in applying for federal grants, making it the second university to turn down a deal that had alarmed many in higher education.

The proposal that the government asked Brown and eight other universities to weigh calls for limits on international students, potentially “abolishing institutional units that purposefully punish, belittle, and even spark violence against conservative ideas,” and policies enshrining “that academic freedom is not absolute,” among other conditions.

“I am concerned that the compact by its nature and by various provisions would restrict academic freedom and undermine the autonomy of Brown’s governance, critically compromising our ability to fulfill our mission,” the university’s president, Christina H. Paxson, told Trump administration officials in a letter on Wednesday.

Last week, M.I.T. became the first school to reject the proposal. Its president, Sally Kornbluth, said the compact was “inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone” and that it threatened to “restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution.”