Faculty approved a new standing committee to review gifts and grants for compliance with Brown’s Gift Acceptance and Openness in Research policies at Tuesday’s faculty meeting.
The new Gifts and Grants Review Committee is charged with reviewing gifts and grants that are flagged by the Division of Advancement or the Office of the Vice President for Research for further review. The University hopes this will ensure that donations are in compliance with University policies. Committee members will review donors’ professional backgrounds, including their source of wealth and any adverse media coverage.
The Committee will then make a recommendation to President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 on whether to accept the donation. The Corporation, the University’s highest governing body, has final say over whether the University will accept the donation, although the group may “delegate acceptance of some Gifts” to Paxson or other senior officers, according to the University’s Gift Acceptance Policy.
Four tenured faculty members will serve on the committee, one of whom must work on the Advisory Committee on University Resources Management and the other on the Research Advisory Board. No members of the committee were named at the meeting.
The University’s Provost, General Counsel and Executive Vice President of Finance and Administration and will also sit on the committee.
According to the approved motion, which will go into effect July 1, the recommendations of acceptance should be aligned with the University’s Business Ethics Standards and principles of academic freedom.
“The fundamental idea is that the Committee is supposed to prevent gifts and grants that would further the dissemination of disinformation,” Paxson said.
J. Timmons Roberts, a professor of environmental studies and sociology affiliated with Scholars at Brown for Climate Action, presented an amendment that added a requirement for the Vice Presidents for Advancement and Research to submit an annual report to the GGRC and the Faculty Executive Committee on the donations offered and accepted.
“When I look at this committee, it’s essentially Advancement and OVPR cherry-picking a few examples and giving them to the Committee without giving them any idea how representative these are,” said Brian Lander, an assistant professor of history and environment and society, in support of this aspect of the amendment.
The amendment also removed a clause that explicitly stated the recommendation should ensure “that Brown’s processes do not politicize gift and grant acceptance or use business practices as an advocacy tool.”
“We would argue that, in fact, gift and grant acceptance has forever been very political,” Roberts said. Though, not all faculty members present agreed with Roberts.
The amendment passed with 58% approval, and the amended motion to create the GGRC passed with 81% in favor.
In March 2023, Paxson shared findings from a working group report that suggested the University create a committee to review gifts and grants.
Currently, an ad hoc committee reviews gifts and grants that are flagged by the Office of the Vice President for Research and the Advancement Office, although Provost Francis Doyle III said the committee has only worked on one case since January 2023.
The University reviews all donations over $1 million, those involving naming opportunities and gifts from donors not affiliated with the University.
Multiple faculty members spoke in support of the GGRC during the meeting.
“The idea of disinformation and knowing who the supporters are is a very complex question, but it’s really worth our attention,” Roberts said.
Ryan Doherty is a section editor covering faculty, higher education and science and research. He is a junior concentrating in Chemistry and Economics who likes to partially complete crosswords in his free time.
Cate Latimer is a senior staff writer covering faculty and higher education. She is from Portland, OR, and studies English and Urban Studies. In her free time, you can find her playing ultimate frisbee or rewatching episodes of Parks and Rec.
