Hegseth Says Defense Department Will Cut Ties With Harvard
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Friday that the Defense Department would sever its academic ties with Harvard University, the latest broadside by the Trump administration in its pressure campaign to force the university to cut a deal with the government.
In a statement and video published on Friday evening, Mr. Hegseth attacked the university in hyperbolic language, decrying it as a politically liberal institution, and said that, beginning in the new school year in September, the Defense Department will “discontinue graduate-level professional military education, fellowships and certificate programs at the school.” Mr. Hegseth added that military personnel who are attending classes will be able to finish those courses of study.
It is unclear what programs will be affected, and to what extent, but there are several graduate-level programs for military officers at Harvard. Mr. Hegseth’s order appeared to squarely target his alma mater: Harvard’s Kennedy School, which teaches government and public policy programs.
The Kennedy School’s Belfer Center, for example, has a national security fellowship for mid-level U.S. military officers. Retired Gen. Joseph F. Dunford, Jr., the highest-ranking officer in the armed forces for part of President Trump’s first term, is also a fellow at the Belfer Center. There were 12 officers enrolled in the national security fellowship this year. (David E. Sanger, a White House and national security correspondent for The New York Times, is a lecturer at a defense program in the Belfer Center.)
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/us/politics/hegseth-defense-harvard.html?unlocked_article_code=1.KVA.SD_h.TiDvdTpi-FzL&smid=url-share
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