Dear Brown Community,

At the faculty meeting earlier this week, I discussed steps the University is taking to comply with the agreement Brown signed with the federal government over the summer. I also acknowledged that Brown has received the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” which the federal government has asked Brown to consider. Because there is keen interest in both topics, I am writing to share information with the entire Brown community.

As a reminder, on July 30 I announced that Brown had reached a voluntary agreement with the federal government that restored our research funding from the National Institutes of Health and our ability to compete fairly for new grants. The agreement permanently closed three pending reviews into Brown’s compliance with nondiscrimination obligations, including for undergraduate admissions, while it also expressly affirmed that the government does not have any authority to dictate teaching, learning or academic speech at Brown. In exchange, we made a set of commitments related to the promotion of workforce development in Rhode Island and compliance with federal antidiscrimination laws.

We are committed to abiding by this agreement while staying true to our values. Over the past month we have worked to develop a framework for administering grants to workforce development programs in the state, with a focus on supporting high-quality programs that provide Rhode Islanders with the skills they need. I hope to be able to provide more information early next month. 

In addition, on Sept. 30 we submitted information to the government that we are required to provide under the agreement. This included anonymized admission data; a confidential summary of de-identified reports received by Brown’s Office of Equity Compliance and Reporting alleging discrimination or harassment on the basis of national origin; and a confidential draft of the survey evaluating the campus climate for Brown students that we are required to conduct by the end of this year. More information about this submission is available in the series of online FAQs on the resolution agreement, which we have continued to update since late August as we respond to community questions about Brown’s commitments under the agreement.

It's worth noting that we do not routinely inform the community when Brown submits required reports to the federal government (which happens numerous times each year in the normal course of doing business). However, we are providing general information in the FAQs for this first submission because we understand the broad community interest in how Brown is complying with the agreement. We asked the government to treat all the materials we provided as confidential and protected from public disclosure.

The Government’s Compact

Earlier this month, I received a letter from the federal government regarding a proposed “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.” Multiple media outlets have reported that Brown and eight other institutions received letters, and news outlets have posted the Compact online; I encourage you to read it.

Brown has been asked to provide comments on the Compact document by Oct. 20, so this is the question we now face. As I shared with the faculty, it is understandable that many want to know what I and other colleagues in the Brown administration are thinking about this document. In this moment, I feel strongly that it is most helpful to hear from members of our community. We need to decide, as a community, how or whether to respond to the invitation to provide comments. 

At times like this, I am grateful that we took the time, together, last spring to consider and affirm a set of university values that guide our decision-making: a commitment to the pursuit of knowledge and understanding; upholding academic freedom and freedom of expression; a commitment to openness and diversity of ideas, perspectives and experiences; and responsibility for a thriving academic community. Brown’s mission is our north star, and these values should guide us. 

I am grateful for the many comments I have received in the past week, and I look forward to hearing from more stakeholders in the coming days, either through individual emails or through groups such as faculty and student governance entities that have decided to collect and synthesize feedback to share with me and with other members of the senior administration. Brown’s course of action should and will be informed by the perspectives of our community.  

Sincerely,

Christina H. Paxson
President