Our kid’s experience exactly. I had been told (including by a former partner who attended for undergrad and joked he majored in ultimate frisbee) that Brown was relaxed and nobody cared about grades. My kiddo has not found that Brown. I guess things can change, but she’s found it to be a place without one discernible and overriding demographic or characteristic other than ‘smart’.
As with my other kid’s experience at Wesleyan, a school with its own stereotypical rep that precedes it, this sort of buzz is often more about lore than reality. The only intense activism she reported during her time was the very early days of BLM (well before Floyd), which of course became a big deal most everywhere.
All I would say to the OP is, if you’re looking for a reason to not attend Brown, this doesn’t seem like the one. My kid is neither a hippy nor a recreational drug user and loves Brown, College Hill and greater Providence. So do we.