Fulbright board quits due to Trump administration's political meddling

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Guardian

Wed 11 Jun 2025 12.34 EDT
Last modified on Wed 11 Jun 2025 12.35 EDT


All 12 members of the prestigious Fulbright program’s board have reportedly resigned in protest of what they describe as unprecedented political interference by the Trump administration, which has blocked scholarships for nearly 200 American academics.

The board, according to a memo obtained by the New York Times, accused the state department of acting illegally by cancelling awards already approved for professors and researchers due to travel overseas this summer, following a year-long selection process that concluded over the winter.

The administration is also reviewing applications from approximately 1,200 foreign scholars already approved to study in the US, potentially disrupting exchanges that were due to begin with acceptance letters in April. “We believe these actions not only contradict the statute but are antithetical to the Fulbright mission and the values, including free speech and academic freedom, that Congress specified in the statute,” the board’s members wrote in their resignation letter.

The mass resignation represents a significant escalation in tensions between the Trump administration and academic institutions. The White House has been systematically targeting higher education, with 45 universities currently under investigation as part of Trump’s anti-DEI crackdown, including dozens of state schools and two Ivy League institutions.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/11/fulbright-board-quits-trump

[groundloop]

1. Sadly those positions will almost certainly be filled by tRump lackeys.

[tazcat]

2. All 12, Wow

[markpkessinger]

3. And the only thing they accomplished by doing so is to further Trump's agenda -- shameful! n/t

[SomewhereInTheMiddle]

4. Another strike against American Soft Power.

As a former Fulbright Scholar (Finland, 2001-2002) I find Trump's interference in one of the US's flagship diplomatic programs deplorable. While I was an American scholar in Finland, the Finnish PM was a former Fulbright recipient that had studied in the US. That gave her both a fondness for and understanding of the US that she would not otherwise have had.

The program builds bridges in both directions. Now he is burning them down.

[thought crime]

6. Great example.

I wish more young Americans could study in Finland. It's a great place to see the potential of good government and good society. I spend summers in Helsinki and suffer culture shock every time I return.

[thought crime]

5. As a destructive force, Plan 2025 is pretty thorough

They are meddling in every aspect of American culture.