Amid the havoc unfolding across varied sanctuary cities during widespread ICE raids, it is relatively easy to overlook other major events occurring simultaneously.
However, one event in particular is especially startling, and it will undoubtedly further reinforce educational institutions’ rather obvious aversion to the Trump administration.
In a rather startling turn of events, the entire sitting board of the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board has rather abruptly resigned.
Apparently, these resignations are exclusively due to the ongoing influence of the Trump administration in varied research endeavors – in particular those supported by taxpayer revenues.
Per the Fulbright representatives, however, Congress, rather than the president, should have the most sway.
The board issued a statement on Substack that stance all too clear within the opening lines.
“Effective immediately, members of the Congressionally mandated Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board voted overwhelmingly to resign from the board, rather than endorse unprecedented actions that we believe are impermissible under the law, compromise U.S. national interests and integrity, and undermine the mission and mandates Congress established for the Fulbright program nearly 80 years ago,”
Sounds awfully familiar … in fact, not that far off from the scathing commentary that Harvard University has issued in its own searing diatribes against the Trump administration.
Ironically, the board defended former Democrat and Republican administrations alike, as if to further underscore how different the present administration is perceived.
“Under Democratic and Republican administrations alike, the Board has followed the law, operating with independence pursuant to its statutory mandate … However, the current administration has usurped the authority of the Board and denied Fulbright awards to a substantial number of individuals who were selected for the 2025-2026 academic year,” the statement added, highlighting the clear catalyst for the very sudden resignations.
“It is worth noting that the awards that were overridden include studies in categories such as biology, engineering, architecture, agriculture, crop sciences, animal sciences, biochemistry, medical sciences, music, and history,” the statement added pointedly.
Worthwhile to note indeed.
After all, the Fulbright board tellingly does not identify, or otherwise imply, “gender studies” or other contentious topics to be highly valuable pursuits of knowledge.
The statement also noted that “an additional 1,200 foreign Fulbright recipients” have apparently been subjected to “an unauthorized review process.”
Though the statement did not clarify precisely why these “additional” recipients were under scrutiny.
Though the statement made it abundantly clear that integrity has been “undermined” in the last few months.
“This proud legacy has depended on one thing above all: the integrity of the program’s selection process based on merit, not ideology, and its insulation from political interference … That integrity is now undermined,” the board declared.
On its part, the Trump administration has largely brushed off the claims of the Fulbright board.
“The 12 members of the Fulbright Board were partisan political appointees of the Biden Administration. It’s ridiculous to believe that these members would continue to have final say over the application process, especially when it comes to determining academic suitability and alignment with President Trump’s Executive Orders,” a senior State Department official remarked.
Well then …
Author: Ofelia Thornton
