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SarahBrown2024

Sarah Brown

Senior Editor

What I Do

As The Chronicle’s news editor, I primarily assign and edit daily-news coverage. If you’ve got news or tips to share but you’re not sure who to reach out to, I’m a good point of contact.

Our newsroom approaches daily coverage in two ways: One, we break news and keep readers updated on the biggest higher-education stories. Two, we aim to help readers understand major headlines affecting colleges, connect dots to uncover broader trends, and learn lessons from other institutions.

I also help spearhead The Chronicle’s opportunities for early-career journalists, including our reporting internship program.

My Background

I joined The Chronicle in 2015 as a reporter covering student life and campus culture, including topics like sexual assault and harassment, race and diversity, and mental health. I earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill — but I often joke that I really graduated from The Daily Tar Heel, the student newspaper, where I reported and edited all four years. I became an editor at The Chronicle in 2022.

I appear occasionally as a TV and radio guest to talk about The Chronicle’s news coverage, most recently on PBS NewsHour and NPR’s On Point.

Connect

Email: sarah.brown@chronicle.com
Signal: sarahbrown.42
Socials: Bluesky and LinkedIn

Recent Stories

Campus Safety
By Sarah Brown December 15, 2025
The Rhode Island institution called off final exams after Saturday’s tragedy — the latest in a series of gun-violence incidents this year on college campuses.
Arrested Professor
By Sarah Brown November 30, 2025
The government says Sumith Gunasekera of Ferris State University was ineligible for legal status in the United States due to 1998 criminal charges in Canada, including a sex offense.
The Trump Agenda
By Sarah Brown November 28, 2025
The agreement releases $790 million in research funding that has been held up for months amid concerns about how the university handled disruptions from a 2024 pro-Palestinian encampment.
'Discriminatory' Quotas
By Sarah Brown, Dan Bauman September 10, 2025
The Education Department moved Wednesday to end the programs — arguing they are discriminatory “by conferring government benefits exclusively to institutions that meet racial or ethnic quotas.”
Finance
By Sarah Brown May 10, 2025
The proposal that emerged in news reports on Friday would create a tiered system, and only private colleges with endowments valued at more than $750,000 per student would pay a higher rate.
Breaking
By Sarah Brown April 21, 2025
It’s the first time a university has brought a legal challenge after being singled out by President Trump.
'Unmoored From the Law'
President Alan M. Garber said on Monday that he would not comply with demands from Trump’s antisemitism task force, which quickly responded by pausing dozens of grants and contracts.
Unpacking the turmoil
By Sarah Brown, Rick Seltzer March 12, 2025
Chronicle experts make sense of a chaotic landscape.
'Immediate Cancellation'
The move is an extraordinary escalation of a months-long feud between Republican politicians and the university.
Law & Policy
By Sarah Brown March 2, 2025
The document, describing the Trump administration’s interpretation of civil-rights law, says that cultural events are probably fine, while identity-based housing and student-support efforts probably aren’t.