Pentagon Ends Military Training and Fellowships with Harvard
The US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, announced that the Pentagon is terminating all military training, fellowships, and certificate programs with Harvard University. This decision represents the latest escalation by the Trump administration in its ongoing conflict with the Ivy League institution.
“The @DeptWar is formally ending ALL Professional Military Education, fellowships, and certificate programs with Harvard,”Hegseth stated on X, describing Harvard as “woke.”
Hegseth, a former Fox weekend host, criticized Harvard as “one of the red-hot centers of Hate America activism.”
Background of Tensions Between Trump Administration and Harvard
The cancellation of military programs with Harvard follows months of threats and demands from the Trump administration directed at the university. The administration has targeted federal funding for numerous universities as part of a broader effort to compel educational institutions to align with its viewpoints, while alleging that US universities promote antisemitism and leftist ideology.
Harvard has been a central focus in this conflict. Earlier in the week, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that he would be cutting ties with the university over allegations that it enabled antisemitism. Harvard’s president, Alan Garber, has consistently rejected these allegations as unfounded and described the administration’s pressure campaign as an attack on academic freedom.
Hegseth’s Criticism of Harvard and Wokeness
Hegseth has been vocal against what he terms “wokeness,” advocating for the end of diversity programs and positioning himself as a conservative figure. On Friday, he characterized Harvard as a radical leftist institution attempting to undermine the US armed forces.
“Too many faculty members openly loathe our military; they cast our armed forces in a negative light and squelch anyone who challenges their leftist political leanings,”said Hegseth, who did not mention that he earned a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
“With some exceptions, the Ivy League as a whole has pervasive institutional bias and a lack of viewpoint diversity, including the coddling of toxic ideologies that undercuts our mission.”
“That is why, in two weeks’ time, components of all of our departments – army, navy and air force – will evaluate all existing graduate programs for active-duty service members at all Ivy League universities and other civilian universities,”he added.
Hegseth further emphasized the Pentagon’s focus on “building lethality,” stating that it “no longer includes spending millions of dollars on expensive universities that actively undercut our mission and undercut our country.”
Concluding his video message, the Harvard alumnus said,
“We train warriors, not wokesters. Harvard: good riddance.”
Hegseth’s History of Criticism Toward Harvard
Hegseth’s criticism of Harvard has been a recurring theme in his political rhetoric. He disparaged the university in two of his books and, in a 2022 episode of the morning show Fox & Friends, publicly defaced his diploma by writing “Return to sender” on it in large letters.
During the same broadcast, he acknowledged that he was not actually returning his degree, stating,
“People will say: ‘This is just a stunt, you still have a degree.’ And that’s fine, I went, I got the degree, I walked, took the classes and all that.”
Broader Trump Administration Campaign Against Universities
Trump’s campaign against leading US universities has addressed various issues, including pro-Palestinian protests, diversity programs, transgender policies, and climate initiatives. Many universities, including Harvard, depend on federal funding for research, which the administration has used as leverage to pressure institutions by threatening to cut funding.
Among the administration’s demands to Harvard are the cessation of diversity initiatives, banning face masks, and providing information to US immigration authorities amid the administration’s anti-immigrant policies.
