PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) -- Rhode Island's most powerful higher education institution is the latest elite school that has come in the crosshairs of the Trump administration. The administration will freeze $510 million in federal contracts and grants awarded to Brown University, citing concerns abo ut antisemitism on campus, a White House official confirmed to 12 News on Thursday night. The decision was first reported by The Daily Caller, which said the government is also examining Brown's policies on diversity, equity and inclusion. Brian Clark, a spokesperson for Brown, said the school was still in the dark as of Thursday night. "We have no information to substantiate what's being reported," he told 12 News in an email. Earlier in the day, Brown Provost Frank Doyle had emailed the campus to acknowledge "troubling rumors emerging about federal action on Brown research grants," and said university leaders were "closely monitoring notifications related to grants." Brown received more than $254 million in federal research funding during the 2023-24 fiscal year, according to a February court filing by Greg Hirth, the school's vice president for research. Based on that figure, the amount being frozen by the administration would be equivalent to about two years of federal research funding for Brown. The National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs and NASA were among the federal agencies that provided funding to the school. Any major disruption in research funding to Brown could have significant ripple effects in Rhode Island. The university is a linchpin of state leaders' strategy on economic development, particularly in the life sciences and in redeveloping downtown Providence. "President Trump's threat to withhold funding from Brown University will undercut lifesaving research and economic development in the sciences, engineering and other disciplines," Congressman Seth Magaziner, a Democrat, said in a statement. "This action is purely political and unnecessary," Magaziner said, adding that he had been in touch with school leaders including Brown President Christina Paxson "and will support them in any way I can." Spokespersons for Rhode Island's other members of Congress and Gov. Dan McKee did not immediately respond to questions about the situation. Brown was one of 60 colleges and universities that received a letter in March from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights warning that they could face consequences if they failed to convince the administration they were protecting the rights of Jewish students. "U.S. colleges and universities benefit from enormous public investments funded by U.S. taxpayers," Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a statement at the time. "That support is a privilege and it is contingent on scrupulous adherence to federal antidiscrimination laws." Last year, students at Brown organized a weekslong encampment to protest the war in Gaza, mirroring similar protests on other elite campuses. Paxson eventually defused the situation by agreeing to have Brown's governing board vote on divestment from Israel. The board went on to reject the idea. Michigan Congresswoman Lisa McClain, the House GOP chair, posted on social media in response to the reports Thursday: "Good. Brown University — like so many other schools — caved to the antisemitic mob and desperately needs to change course." The reported federal action against Brown comes at a time when the university is already facing significant financial challenges, including a $46 million structural budget deficit that was projected to nearly double next year absent other changes. While Brown's endowment reached a record high of $7.2 billion last year, that amount is vastly less than the endowments of competing research institutions like Harvard and Yale. Brown administrators have said its financial model is still closer to a college than a university due to its dependence on undergraduate tuition. Other schools including Harvard and Columbia University have already seen their federal funding halted by the administration, leading to wrenching debates over how to respond. In a lengthy statement last month, Paxson called those cuts "crippling," and warned that Trump was placing "unprecedented federal demands" on universities "as a condition for restoring federal funding." "Some of these demands raise new and previously unthinkable questions about the future of academic freedom and self-governance for those that are committed to continuing to serve this country as leading research institutions," wrote Paxson, who has been Brown's president since 2012. Separately, 12 News has confirmed that Brown's School of Public Health laid off a small number of staff members earlier this week in order to reduce expenses. Clark confirmed the job cuts but emphasized they were isolated and the terminated employees had been offered assistance. "One important goal of our ongoing work to ensure financial sustainability is to minimize the number of potential layoffs of filled positions to the greatest extent possible, and there have been no layoffs broadly across campus," Clark said in an email. Even before Thursday's news, Brown leaders were seriously concerned about a different Trump administration policy affecting universities: a proposed 15% cap on how much of any federal grant can go toward so-called "indirect costs" that help underwrite the overall administration of the school. That policy is currently the subject of litigation. Paxson's executive team has directed both academic departments and administrative offices to craft plans to reduce their budgets in order to deal with both the budget deficit and potential federal cuts, Clark said. The school has also implemented a temporary hiring freeze and eliminated some vacant positions. Brown employed roughly 5,500 workers as of 2023, making it one of the largest employers in Rhode Island. It also runs the state's only medical school and has been expanding its role in the state's health care sector, including a deal last year that saw the state's largest hospital system rename itself Brown University Health. The conflict with the Trump administration isn't the only issue Brown administrators have been struggling with of late. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression has criticized Brown for reportedly opening an investigation into a student, Alex Shieh, who sent an email to thousands of administrators asking about their job duties over the prior week, echoing a similar message Elon Musk's DOGE sent to federal employees. Clark defended Brown's handling of the matter. READ MORE: Trump administration halts dozens of research grants at Princeton Ted Nesi (tnesi@wpri.com) is a Target 12 investigative reporter and 12 News politics/business editor. He co-hosts Newsmakers and writes Nesi's Notes on Saturdays. Connect with him on Twitter, Bluesky and Facebook. Download the WPRI 12 and Pinpoint Weather 12 apps to get breaking news and weather alerts. Watch 12 News Now on WPRI.com or with the new 12+ smart TV app. Follow us on social media:                     Close Thanks for signing up! 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