We are alumni, parents, students, faculty and staff united by our connection to Brown and our concern about creeping authoritarianism.
We aim to buttress university leaders in defending Brown against illegal and coercive threats from the Trump Administration.
We believe that Brown community members must speak out to support the university’s mission and values and bolster the courage of the university’s leaders.
We also urge Brown to work closely with other universities and colleges to build a united front defending the independence of higher education.
How Brown Can Stand Strong
We urge Brown to take the strongest possible stance in responding to threats and pressure from the Trump Administration. This includes:
Refusing to submit to or comply with illegal, unjust or coercive requests from the federal government that impinge on academic or institutional freedom.
Protecting the civil rights and free speech of all individuals and groups that compose the university community.
Allocating funding to mount legal defense against attacks.
Communicating and coordinating with the leadership of other universities and colleges to defend academic freedom.
Being a consistent, proactive voice in promoting public awareness of the benefits of academic freedom and institutional independence.
Consistently engaging stakeholders within the Brown community in open dialogue about how to best respond to the challenges of this moment.
Why Brown Must Stand Strong
Giving in to Trump’s demands would force me to reconsider my annual donation to Brown, which is no doubt minimal compared to the gifts of others. More importantly, however, it would cause me to reconsider my pride in the institution and all I believe that it has stood for. Brown is different from other Ivies, and I’d beg them to demonstrate that difference now.
Jessica Stone Levy, ‘83
The attack on immigrants is completely antithetical to everything I value and stand for. As a high school teacher at a Title I school in California I interact every day with students in vulnerable positions. Every capitulation from a university, business, or politician puts those students slightly more at risk as the current administration slowly asserts absolute power over slightly larger portions of American life. To echo the famous quote, first they came for the immigrants. Will we fail to speak out as we are not immigrants?
Nick Goelz, ‘15
I’m a scientist and I depend on research grants, and I can easily imagine the position researchers at Brown find themselves in and the concern over losing grants. At the same time, as I see other universities capitulate to these illegal demands, I know that some university needs to stand up and fight them, and if there is any university that has the courage to do so it will be Brown. Brown standing up and fighting would make me a proud Brunonian!
Beverly Naigles, ‘15
Brown was the place that I learned to be a citizen, an activist, and an intellectual. Everything that I learned there and have learned since has prepared me to understand the Trump administration and their actions as taking us down the road to fascism at a terrifying rate. It is the responsibility of both citizens and institutions that believe in democracy to take a stand at this moment. I hope Brown will not disappoint me and so many of the other activists that it raised.
Janice Bloom, ‘91
The beauty of Brown is in the embrace of diversity of thought and practice. Caving to this administration’s agenda of hate and not standing up for DEI and the access it provides for so many is counter to what Brown stands for. True character shows up in moments of adversity. This is the moment to shine.
Noelani Mussman, ‘00
Brown needs to stand up for free speech and academic liberty! Do NOT cave in to this administration. Doing so will fail to protect the university. Instead it will make Brown University complicit with an authoritarian regime that seeks to destroy everything that Brown has been working towards and for.
Barbara Azcona, ‘92
I am both a Brown alum and a university instructor. I appreciate the difficult situation that Brown has been placed in, but I cannot agree more with the idea that the core principles of academic freedom are worth standing up for. These are what make me so proud to be a Brown alum.
Kenneth Frauwith, ‘92
I’m proud of Brown’s progressive spirit — and putting up a fight is in keeping with that spirit. I would be proud of Brown for standing up for the values I learned there. I trust there will be a time after this administration and its madness, and Brown can speed that time, and retain its honor, even if it comes at a financial cost, painful as that might be.
Paul VanDeCarr, ‘91
Those who study and write history have told us how this plays out. We need institutions that hold their ground. We need Brown to be one of them. Please, stand strong and be on the right side of history. And let us know what help you need from us to do so.
Jennifer Atlee, ‘99
If the most historically significant and big name universities in the U.S. don’t make a stand to defend academic freedom and integrity, who do we rely on to do it? Brown is in the firewall whether it is a comfortable and easy place to be or not.
