Brown University student disciplined for channeling Elon Musk

(NewsNation) — A Brown University student was recently disciplined after channeling Elon Musk and asking the university’s staff DOGE-style questions. Alex Shieh joined “NewsNation Live” to discuss the situation.

“Brown has always had high tuition prices and tuition fees,” said Shieh. “And I was concerned, not for myself. I think, as I mentioned in the hearing, I’m lucky enough that my parents are doctors and they can afford to pay that entire standard price. But a lot of students can’t, and that’s why Brown looks the way it does.”

Shieh, a reporter for the Brown Spectator, says he emailed over 3,000 administrators in March to explain their roles, tasks they performed over a week, and how Brown students would be impacted if their positions were eliminated.

The purpose? To find the reason why tuition had risen to $93,000 a year at the school.

“I didn’t get an answer from any of these administrators,” Shieh added about Brown University’s allocation of tuition money. “Brown just released its latest budget report last week, and the largest category of its expenditures — 43% — is employee wages, accounting for a total of $818 million.”

In April, the university launched a preliminary student conduct review of Shieh for improperly using data accessed through a school platform. Shieh says the school alleged he and the paper caused emotional harm, invasion of privacy and misrepresentation. He was cleared a month later of facing any disciplinary action. However, the school penalized him for violating its technology policy and trademark policy.

“It’s clear they didn’t charge other students newspapers that have the word Brown in their name,” said Shieh. It’s clear they came after us because we were reporting the rutt that was going on, and they didn’t like that very much.”

Shieh acknowledged he’s garnered support from students who got into Brown but can’t afford to go because of financial strains. The faculty has also been in favor of Shieh’s stance.

“We’re talking about administrators here, not the faculty,” he said. “And for too long, they’ve felt disrespected.”

Brown University, in a statement, said, “While the national conversation about higher education finances and costs is important, it’s regrettable that a witness in today’s hearing offered so many misrepresentations about Brown’s students, employees, and efforts to provide an exceptional educational experience and conduct high-impact research.”

Half of Brown University’s students come from the top 5% of the United States.