War Department cuts ties with Harvard over ‘woke’ ideology under Hegseth
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The War Department said Friday it would end all professional military training, scholarships and certification programs with Harvard University.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth criticized the university in a video announcement published on
“Harvard woke up; the War Department did not,” Hegseth said.
Hegseth, who has a master’s degree from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, said the U.S. military has a “rich tradition” with the Ivy League school while arguing that Harvard has become one of the “fiery centers of Hate America activism.”
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Secretary of War Pete Hegseth arrives at the U.S. Capitol in Washington to hold a briefing on Venezuela with members of the House of Representatives and Senate on Wednesday, January 7, 2026. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)
“Too many faculty members openly hate our military. They have a negative view of our armed forces and silence anyone who challenges their leftist political leanings, all while charging huge fees. It’s not worth it,” he said. “They have replaced open investigation and honest debate with rigid orthodoxy.”
The announcement comes amid the Trump administration’s ongoing feud with the Ivy League school.
President Donald Trump said Monday he is seeking $1 billion in damages from Harvard University, which the Trump administration has made a prime target in its efforts to use federal funds to crack down on anti-Semitism and “woke” ideology.
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Trump administration lawyers have appealed a judge’s decision requiring the return of $2.7 billion in frozen federal research funds to Harvard. The university sued the administration in April over the funding freeze, arguing in court that the move amounted to an unconstitutional “pressure campaign” aimed at influencing and gaining control over elite academic institutions.
Hegseth also criticized Harvard’s campus environment, claiming that its research programs partnered with the Chinese Communist Party and that the university’s leadership fostered an atmosphere that celebrated Hamas, permitted attacks on Jews, and prioritized Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion initiatives.
“Why would the War Department support an environment that undermines our nation and the principles that the vast majority of Americans hold dear?” said Hegseth. “The answer to that question is that we shouldn’t and we won’t.”
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Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced that military training programs with Harvard University will end in the 2026-27 academic year. (Omer Havana/Getty Images)
“For too long, this department has been sending our best and brightest officers to Harvard, hoping that the university would better understand and appreciate our warrior class,” he continued. “Instead, many of our officers return looking very much like Harvard, their minds filled with globalist and radical ideologies that do not improve our fighting ranks.”
In addition to Harvard, Hegseth took aim at much of the Ivy League, saying the schools have a “pervasive institutional bias” and lack of diversity of perspectives, including “underestimation of toxic ideologies,” which he said undermines the military’s mission.
He said that in the coming weeks, all departments at the Pentagon will evaluate available graduate programs for active-duty soldiers at Ivy League schools and other civilian universities.
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Secretary of War Pete Hegseth described Harvard as “one of the fiery centers of Hate America activism.” (Associated Press)
“The goal is to determine whether they truly provide cost-effective strategic training for future senior leaders, compared to, for example, our state universities and military graduate programs,” he said. “At the War Department, we will seek to maximize taxpayer value by building lethality to create deterrence. It’s that simple. This no longer includes spending millions of dollars on expensive universities that actively undermine our mission and undermine our country.”
Hegseth concluded his message with the following words: “We train warriors, not vigilantes. Harvard, get well soon.”
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Harvard University did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Brian Flood contributed to this report.
