US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseththe Pentagon said it was ending all military training, fellowships and certificate programs with Harvard University. Trump administrationThe latest surge against an Ivy League school.
“DeptWar has officially terminated all professional military education, fellowships and certificate programs Harvard University,” Hegseth said in a statement posted on X, labeling Harvard “woke.”
Hegseth, a former Fox Weekend host, attacked the university as “one of the red-hot centers of hate America activism.”
“A lot of faculty openly hate our military; they denigrate our armed forces and oppress anyone who challenges their left-wing political leanings,” said Hegseth, not to mention the master’s in public policy he earned from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
“With few exceptions,” Hegseth added, “the Ivy League as a whole has a pervasive institutional bias and lack of perspective diversity, including the coddling of toxic ideologies that undermine our mission.”
“Therefore, over a period of two weeks, components of all 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.
Focused on the Pentagon’s “building resilience”, Hegseth also said, “There can be no more spending millions of dollars on expensive universities that actively diminish our mission and diminish our nation”.
The Harvard alumnus concluded his video message: “We train warriors, not woksters. Harvard: Good riddance.”
Hegseth’s attack on Harvard has been a theme of his political rhetoric for years. He denigrates the school in two of his books, and direct part On Fox & Friends’ morning show in 2022, he flipped his diploma and wrote “Return to Sender” on it in large letters.
During the same broadcast, Hegseth admitted that he wasn’t really “giving back” his degree: “People say: ‘It’s just a stunt, you still have a degree’. And that’s OK, I went, I got a degree, I walked, took classes and everything.
Donald Trump’s administration has lashed out at top US universities, including Harvard, over a range of issues including pro-Palestinian protests, diversity programs, transgender policies and the climate initiative.
