Open Letter Re: Investments In Apollo Global Management

October 17th, 2026

Dear Brown University Investment Office,

Brown University’s mission “to serve the community, the nation and the world by discovering, communicating and preserving knowledge and understanding in a spirit of free inquiry” is at the heart of all we do. It is up to all of us who care about academic freedom to do what we can to protect the conditions that make such free inquiry possible. We are reaching out now to inquire about a business relationship that would be at cross-purposes with this mission.

It is our understanding that Brown may be invested in the private equity firm Apollo Global Management led by billionaire CEO Marc Rowan, a key architect of last year’s “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education,” the Trump administration’s attempt to coerce several universities into adhering to a partisan ideological agenda in exchange for federal funding and preferential treatment. Despite its title, the compact was not about investing in higher education or giving students the support they need; it was an attempt to remake higher education through political pressure. University endowments are important sources of capital for Apollo. The fees Apollo charges investors have made Rowan a multibillionaire, and his vast wealth has allowed him to play a significant role in the federal government’s bullying of universities. Were Brown’s endowment, which is meant to protect the financial security of the university, invested in companies run by individuals who aim to stifle academic freedom and shutter longstanding and important academic programs, the university would be effectively participating in the weakening and ultimately the destruction of the very institution our endowments are supposed to sustain.

We request that you conduct a review of Brown’s investment portfolio to determine whether its fund is exposed to Apollo through its private market investments and that you disclose this information publicly. If Brown’s fund is an Apollo investor, perhaps Earl Hunt II, the Chairman and CEO of Apollo Debt Solutions and the treasurer of Brown’s Corporation, might address the concerns raised in this letter.

Sincerely,

The Brown University Chapter of the American Association of University Professors