Brown University has taken a firm stand against a proposed agreement from the Trump administration, which sought to alter campus policies as a condition for receiving preferential access to federal funds.

In a detailed letter addressed to Education Secretary Linda McMahon and White House officials May Mailman and Vincent Haley, Brown’s President Christina Paxson expressed her apprehension about the proposal. She voiced concerns that the compact could compromise academic freedom and encroach on the university’s governance autonomy.

While affirming her willingness to engage with the federal government and participate in national discussions about enhancing higher education, Paxson emphasized that the proposal overlooked the government’s limited authority over academic curricula and content. She stressed the importance of preserving the institution’s independence in these matters.

The Hill has reached out to both the White House and the Department of Education for their responses on the issue.

Earlier, on October 1, the administration had distributed the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” a 10-part proposal, to nine prestigious institutions. This list included Brown University, along with other notable names such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Vanderbilt University, Dartmouth College, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Southern California, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Arizona, and the University of Virginia.

The memo outlines a variety of policy changes schools would have to make, including freezing tuition for five years, banning transgender women from women’s locker rooms and athletic teams, promoting a “vibrant marketplace of ideas,” expanding opportunities for service members and capping the percentage of the student body from foreign countries at 15 percent.

In exchange, the schools would get preferential treatment in receiving federal research funding. 

MIT became the first university to publicly reject the compact last week. Bloomberg reported Monday that the administration is inviting all U.S. colleges to agree to the compact.

In July, Brown and the administration reached a deal to end three antidiscrmination investigations into the university and restore $500 million in federal research funding. 

The agreement called for Brown to pay $50 million over 10 years to workforce development organizations in Rhode Island, separate men’s and women’s sports facilities on the basis of sex, prohibit its health system from prescribing puberty blockers or conducting gender reassignment surgeries on minors and use “merit-based admissions policies.” 

Paxson, in referencing the July deal, said Brown “asserted our commitment to equality of opportunity in admissions and hiring while sustaining a respectful community that is free of harassment and discrimination.”

Brown Rise Up, a student-led group that advocated against the university agreeing to the compact, called Paxson’s letter “a major win” but said the administration’s “attack on higher education and Brown is not over” on its Instagram story.

“More than ever, we need your support, the students, faculty, alumni and community — to fight back against Trump’s encroachment onto our schools. BROWN ROSE UP,” the group added.