After 11 years of dormancy, The Brown Spectator—Brown University’s bastion of ‘libertarian and conservative thought’—is back with a vengeance. Leading the charge is Alex Shieh, a sophomore majoring in computer science and economics, who’s wielding data, determination, and a sharp pen to expose why a University that costs $93,064 a year — has a $46 million structural deficit. The Spectators first project, Bloat@Brown, which aims to address administrative bloat, unchecked DEI agendas, and a troubling undercurrent of antisemitism.
Shieh didn’t set out to make friends. Last week, he fired off an email to thousands of Brown employees, asking a simple question: “What did you do this week?” It wasn’t meant to be a provocation—but it was the opening shot of Bloat@Brown, the database he and his team are building to scrutinize the necessity and legality of every administrative job at Brown. According to their website, using questions and AI, the team will assess roles for redundancy, automation potential, and ties to DEI initiatives, shining a light on what they call “legality, redundancy, and bullshit.”
Brown currently boasts 3,805 non-instructional full-time staff members on payroll — a staggering number considering Brown currently has 7,229 undergraduate students. Inspired (but not directly, he insists) by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the project aims to peel back the layers of federal funding and bureaucratic fat strangling Brown’s budget – and mission.
The project sparked—predictably—an immediate attempt to silence him. His work matters and Brown’s reaction reveals more than it hides.
Brown employs hundreds of administrators—many in overlapping roles or vague “equity” positions—while tuition climbs (5% each year) and academic priorities scatter. Shiehs’ database hopes to determine whether these jobs are necessary or just performative. Brown’s administration isn’t laughing—they’re scrambling. The response? A hacked website, furious pushback from staff, and a meeting with an associate dean.
At the heart of Shieh’s critique: Why does Brown have a $46 million structural deficit? In an open letter on his website he writes, “Receiving an Ivy League education is said to unlock upward mobility, but with a five percent tuition hike set to take effect at Brown University this July, the American Dream will soon set Brown students back a whopping $93,064 per year — 143% of what the average American can expect to earn in the same timeframe.” He continues, “According to U.S. News & World Report, Brown already holds the dubious distinction of second-most expensive university in America, with tuition rates just $335 shy of the first-place University of Southern California. $93,064 tuition, 3,805 administrators on payroll with a $46 million structural budget deficit – Illegal DEI programs are jeopardizing federal funding.”
Once a noble idea, DEI has morphed into an empire of coordinators, directors, and task forces, gobbling up resources while enforcing ideological conformity among students on campus. According to the website, AI will help flesh our roles identified as “bloat,” arguing the university is often duplicating administrative roles or pushing duplicate agendas over academics campus wide.
But it’s not just about the money. DEI’s dominance has chilled free speech at Brown. Free speech is an issue that the University’s students have been battling with for years. In a 2019, Brown Daily Herald Op-Ed, Anju Krishnamurthy (19’) wrote, “Bring Back The Brown Spectator.” “I believe that my experience of Brown and my understanding of American politics could be enriched by the presence of clear-eyed conservative commentary — published on a platform devoted to conservative voices on campus, versus piecemeal contributions to existing student-run publications — from my peers. I want Brown students who lean right to have the opportunity to express their opinions openly, experience the process of putting together a publication and participate in student discourse.” As it stands today, students and faculty self-censor, fearing accusations of insensitivity—or worse.
Diving into his website you see there is a deeper thread Bloat@Brown is tugging at: antisemitism on campus. Brown’s not immune to the wave of anti-Israel sentiment sweeping universities since October 2023. Shieh has explicitly tied Bloat@Brown to this issue. The Methodology page of his website explains that they use an AI algorithm to analyze every Brown administrator. The algorithm uses scoring metrics to assign ratings to each employee via the categories: Legality, Redundancy, and Bullshit Subscores. Legality Subscores center on DEI and Antisemitism. Questions asked are: “Does the role involve diversity, equity, and inclusion, which may violate the Civil Rights Act following the Supreme Court’s ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard?” and, “Has the employee publicly voiced antisemitic ideas, which the Trump Administration asserts is a violation of the Civil Rights Act?” Redundancy Subscores center on Automation and Overlap. Can the role be automated using current technology? Is the employee assigned to responsibilities that could otherwise be completed by other employees with overlapping responsibilities? And lastly, based on the 2018 book by David Graeber, “Bullshit Jobs: A Theory”, Shieh gives us the Bullshit Job Subscores. Flunkie, Goon, Duct Taper, Box Ticker, and Taskmaster. You can find definitions and more details on rankings in the Scoring Metrics section of the new site.
Shiehs willingness to poke this bear will make him a lightning rod. His revival of The Brown Spectator—a platform historically unafraid to challenge progressive orthodoxies—hints at broader concerns. When Jewish students raise alarms, administrators make vague promises of “dialogue” and Shiehs critique of administrative bloat – doubles as a jab at inaction.
Brown didn’t take long to react. After Bloat@Brown went live, the site was hacked and as of this printing was still down. The team claims the cyberattack, that has temporarily disabled their database, came from within the Brown network (from a Brown IP address).
According to a March 24th Chronicle article, a Brown spokesperson relayed, “we’ve advised staff not to respond (to Shiehs inquiry).” The university also hauled Shieh in for a chat with an associate dean, a move dripping with irony: a school that prides itself on “open inquiry” trying to intimidate a student asking questions – and in a state like Rhode Island, with strong student journalist protections deeply embedded into law – do not expect Shieh to back down.
A graduate of one of the country’s most prestigious private high schools, Phillips Andover Academy, and now a sophomore at Brown, Shieh is blending his new age, tech savvy education with old-school journalistic grit. His work’s messy, unpolished, and —exactly what a student paper should be. His message to staff and administration, “Our goal is to be fair,” Shieh says. “Help us understand your job by emailing alex@brownspectator.com from your Brown email address.”
The Brown Spectator’s rebirth isn’t just about Shieh or The Bloat@Brown Project. It is about bringing diversity of free thought, transparency and accountability back to the university that built its reputation on those very things – it is just the wake-up call Brown University needs.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY