Ivy League Under Fire: Trump Administration Secures $1.3 Billion in Settlements

“The Trump administration is successfully reversing the decades-long woke-capture of our nation’s higher education institutions,” said Education Secretary Linda McMahon.

Brown University Agrees to Landmark Settlement Over Discriminatory Practices

“Woke is officially DEAD at Brown,” declared President Trump on Truth Social.

President Trump has long considered himself the nation’s consummate negotiator. Lately, his efforts to hold universities, tech firms, and media conglomerates accountable for unlawful ethnic discrimination and favoritism, among other grievances, have already yielded a staggering $1.3 billion. And that number is only going to continue to rise.

In particular, Trump has intensified efforts to correct the behavior of universities engaged in affirmative action—an unconstitutional policy of giving preferential treatment to certain racial groups—with regard to admissions, permitting antisemitism, and neglecting the safety of female students to persist on college campuses. His administration has threatened to freeze funding for institutions of higher education that refuse to comply with federal anti-discrimination laws and ensure equal treatment for all students. 

Brown University is the latest to fall in line. After a federal investigation concluded that the Ivy League school had violated civil rights laws by continuing to consider students “on the basis of race and national origin” and running diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs that “[promote] unlawful race-based outcomes.” Rather than fighting the findings, Brown quietly reached a historic settlement with the administration—a settlement to the tune of $50 million. 

Further, that agreement requires Brown to prove that admissions will be fair and merit-based; to establish definitions for “male” and “female,” and to create sufficiently separate facilities for women; and to dismantle the school’s DEI initiatives. 

"We stand solidly behind commitments we repeatedly have affirmed to protect all members of our community from harassment and discrimination, and we protect the ability of our faculty and students to study and learn academic subjects of their choosing, free from censorship," stated Brown President Christina H. Paxson.

A similar agreement was reached with the University of Pennsylvania several months back, which has led a number of women’s organizations to applaud President Trump for keeping his promise to protect women’s sports. 

“The Trump administration is giving the University of Pennsylvania a dose of reality: there are consequences for violating the law, and when you violate Title IX, you stand to lose money. It’s that simple,” said former North Carolina high school volleyball player and Independent Women’s Forum Ambassador Payton McNabb.

Brown is, of course, not alone. In recent months, Columbia University agreed to pay $200 million in penalties, while Harvard signed off on a $500 million settlement after Trump froze $2.2 billion in federal funding and threatened to revoke its tax-exempt status. Those fights came as antisemitic incidents on campuses spiked—up 83 percent in a single year, according to the Anti-Defamation League. Trump and his allies seized on the surge, accusing administrators of ducking responsibility and tolerating hostility toward Jewish students.

A similar fight is taking place at the University of California, Los Angeles, where the President argues UCLA’s administration has turned a blind eye to a culture of hostility and antisemitism. Allegedly, the university’s own task force on the matter discovered “de facto or structural antisemitism” and declared that the school is “fail[ing] in its legal obligation to protect First Amendment rights to the free exercise of religion.” 

The White House seeks a $1 billion settlement, which would constitute the largest concession yet. In response, Governor Gavin Newsom has promised to “do everything in [his] power to encourage” the school not to acquiesce. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said she’s fully ready for Newsom’s lawsuit: “Bring it on, Gavin.”

“I think we are seeing progress because we are putting these measures in place and we’re saying, ‘we’re putting teeth behind what we’re looking at.’ First and foremost, we have to protect the students here in the United States, and we have to make sure that our students can go to universities and feel safe and get the education that they want and that they deserve,” said Education Secretary Linda McMahon.

Whether or not one personally agrees with President Trump and his tactics, it’s clear that he has upended the old order. For decades, universities largely policed themselves. Affirmative action, DEI, and even critical race theory were common practices and curricula—hallmarks of progressivism for which the schools would be lauded. And further, these institutions would be shielded by the prestige of their names and the reluctance of anyone in Washington to intervene. 

That era appears to be over.

“The Trump administration is successfully reversing the decades-long woke-capture of our nation’s higher education institutions,” McMahon said.