Washington (United States) (AFP) – The Pentagon is to cut all academic ties with Harvard University, ending military education, fellowships, and certificate programs, it said in a statement on Friday. The move is the latest in the Trump administration’s battle with Harvard over claims that the Ivy League institution promotes “woke” ideology.
“For too long, this department has sent our best and brightest officers to Harvard, hoping the university would better understand and appreciate our warrior class,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in the statement. “Instead, too many of our officers came back looking too much like Harvard — heads full of globalist and radical ideologies that do not improve our fighting ranks.” The Pentagon said the severance of ties would begin in the 2026-2027 school year, with military personnel attending classes able to finish their studies.
In a separate post on X using his preferred term for the Department of Defense, Hegseth said: “Harvard is woke; The War Department is not.” Hegseth stated that the Pentagon would review its ties with all Ivy League colleges for military training and education. “The goal is to determine whether or not they actually deliver cost-effective strategic education for future senior leaders when compared to, say, public universities and our military graduate programs,” he said.
Hegseth is himself an Ivy Leaguer, graduating from both Princeton and Harvard, though he reportedly sent his degree back to the latter institution, and the former Fox News host had criticized it on air for its allegedly left-leaning policies. President Donald Trump on Monday said that his administration would seek $1 billion in damages from Harvard after a New York Times report said the college had won some concessions in ongoing settlement negotiations with the government.
Trump administration officials have accused Harvard and other colleges of failing to sufficiently protect Jewish students during pro-Palestinian protests, filing legal complaints and demanding exorbitant payouts. The Trump administration’s pressure on universities has sparked some academics, including Harvard’s former president, to raise concerns about the possibility of eroding academic freedom. Trump has previously sought to cut more than $2.6 billion of funding to Harvard and has moved to block the entry of international students — a quarter of its student body.
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