All 12 members of the Fulbright program’s board have resigned in protest, citing what they describe as political meddling by the Trump administration. The resignations come after the
State Department canceled nearly 200 scholarships for American scholars who were set to travel abroad this summer.
According to a memo obtained by The New York Times, the board accused the State Department of acting unlawfully by rescinding grants that had already been awarded through a rigorous, year-long selection process.
The administration is also re-evaluating approximately 1,200 foreign scholars who had been approved to study in the U.S., putting their academic plans at risk. The board said these actions violate the Fulbright Program’s founding principles, including a commitment to free speech and academic freedom.
“This contradicts both the statute and the Fulbright mission,” the board wrote in its resignation letter.
The mass resignation marks a major escalation in the administration’s conflict with higher education. Over 45 universities are currently under federal investigation as part of the administration’s crackdown on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, including two Ivy League schools and several public universities.
In addition, the administration has frozen or is reviewing massive amounts of federal funding to major institutions: over $1 billion to Cornell University, nearly $800 million to Northwestern, and $8.7 billion in grants and contracts for Harvard.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is reportedly weighing an investigation into Harvard over possible violations of federal sanctions, stemming from its participation in a panel with Chinese officials who are on a U.S. blacklist.
Sources told The New York Times that the State Department’s public diplomacy office has begun rejecting scholarship applications based on politically sensitive research topics such as climate change, migration, gender, race, and various scientific fields.
That office is led by Darren Beattie, a Trump appointee who was previously dismissed from the administration after speaking at a conference linked to white nationalists.
The board also voiced alarm over proposed budget cuts that would slash funding for educational and cultural exchange programs from $691 million to just $50 million.
“Politicizing the Fulbright Program undermines both the law and the values it was created to uphold,” the board wrote in closing. Photo by US Department of State, Wikimedia commons.
