Brown University has launched disciplinary action against the Brown Spectator, a conservative student newspaper, accusing it of violating trademark policy just weeks after one of its board members publicly criticized the school’s bloated DEI bureaucracy. The charges stem from the paper’s use of the word “Brown” in its name and website domain.
Associate Dean Kirsten Wolfe cited the university’s “Name Use, Trademark, and Licensing Policy” in a formal complaint. Spectator board member Alex Shieh, who also reports for the paper, told Fox News that the administration’s move is retaliatory. “This isn’t about trademarks. This is about retaliation,” Shieh wrote on X. He called it “the latest measure in [Brown’s] crusade against independent student journalism.”
Shieh noted that the administration has not filed similar charges against the Brown Daily Herald, a more left-leaning student outlet. “There’s a reason every student newspaper in the country alludes to their school in its name without issue,” he added.
Tensions escalated in March after Shieh launched Bloat@Brown, an online project that exposed what he described as redundant or “legally questionable” administrative roles contributing to the university’s high tuition. He emailed over 3,800 non-faculty employees with the blunt question, “What do you do all day?” The reaction from some university staff was hostile. José Mendoza, listed as an “event specialist,” responded with, “[expletive] off.”
Wolfe claimed Shieh’s inquiries caused “emotional distress for several University employees” and began investigating him personally.
Brown further threatened disciplinary action against Shieh in April for publicly stating that President Donald Trump’s administration plans to withhold $510 million in federal funding due to the university’s DEI programs. Though the White House confirmed the funding freeze, administrators accused Shieh of spreading “false information.”
Shieh believes the school is intentionally targeting the Spectator to suppress dissent. “The timing and selective targeting of the Spectator but not the Herald make it apparent to us that these latest charges are an attempt to silence student voices critical of university administration, not a real trademark concern,” he told Fox.
