Like so many educational programs that have come under the microscope of the Trump administration, the Fulbright program, once so highly regarded as an international exchange program, has raised alarms. The Board of the Fulbright scholarships have all resigned, except for one board member who chooses to fill out her term.
What is all the controversy about?
If we look at the history of Fulbright, it was originally established by Congress to improve international relations after World War II. Up until now, the Board has had the authority to approve the scholars who would receive scholarships. For 80 years, the program was highly regarded:
The highly selective program awards about 9,000 scholarships annually in the U.S. and in more than 160 other countries to students, scholars, and professionals in a range of fields.
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Award recipients are selected in a yearlong process by nonpartisan staff at the State Department and other countries' embassies. The board has had final approval. The recipients who had their awards canceled are in fields including biology, engineering, agriculture, music, medical sciences, and history, the board members said.
Evidenced by the chaos at Harvard and other universities, the Trump administration has grave concerns about the students who are being accepted from abroad—completely understandable when it turns out that many of these students involve themselves in violent and disruptive activities on campuses. At this point, the Department of Education has cancelled only this year’s Fulbright program, and the State Department has revoked hundreds of student visas:
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday that 300 student visas have been revoked, asserting ‘we have a right’ to rescind the visas of students who participate in campus protests, despite questions about due process and First Amendment objections.
‘If you apply for a visa to enter the United States and be a student, and you tell us that the reason why you're coming to the United States is not just because you want to write op-eds, but because you want to participate in movements that are involved in doing things like vandalizing universities, harassing students, taking over buildings, creating a ruckus, we're not going to give you a visa,’ Rubio said. ‘If you lie to us and get a visa then enter the United States, and with that visa, participate in that sort of activity, we're going to take away your visa.’
You might be wondering why the administration is concerned about Fulbright scholars, given that this is supposed to be an elite group of people. The facts are, however, that some of these Fulbright scholars have very anti-American attitudes. Hasan Ayoub, an assistant professor at An-Najah University in the West Bank, was named a 2023–2024 Fulbright visiting scholar, and made the following statement:
‘The Fulbright Program is administered and run by the American government…. ‘They were part of the assault, of [the] genocide against my own people,’ he said. ‘It was not easy at all to live with…. This was at the heart of my decision to just cut my scholarship and go back home, because I couldn’t take it anymore.’
Fulbright scholars are growingly increasingly terroristic:
In the months since Israel began its siege on Gaza, Fulbright scholars have demanded that the Fulbright Association release a statement supporting its scholars in the West Bank and Gaza. In an open letter published in December 2023, more than 200 global Fulbright alumni called for the Fulbright Association to exert pressure on Congress for a ceasefire and provide support to Palestinian Fulbright alumni.
In July, a group of Fulbright scholars and alumni launched Fulbrighters for Justice in Palestine ‘to contribute to the international movement, end the genocide of the Palestinian people, end the occupation of Palestinian land, and support Palestinian liberation,’ a representative of the coalition told The Nation.
The coalition’s demands include the facilitation of an immediate ceasefire, the release of a statement of solidarity with the Palestinian people from the Fulbright Program, and the termination of the Fulbright Israel Program.
Meanwhile, in reviewing the original statutes that Congress issued, the authority that the Fulbright Board assumes is nonexistent. It indicates that the U.S. president has the authority to select the board, and the Fulbright Board can select candidates, but nowhere does it say that the Board has the final say on those who are selected.
Also, Board members are selected by the president, and Biden selected members from his administration:
Jed Katz, the chair of the board and managing director of Javelin Venture Partners, referred CNBC to the statement when asked about his and the other members’ resignations. Like every other member of the board, Katz was appointed to the panel by former President Joe Biden.
The other board members who resign [sic] include people who served in Biden’s administration, among them Mala Adiga, who was a deputy assistant to Biden, former White House deputy chief of staff Jen O’Malley Dillon, who chaired Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential campaign, and former Biden speechwriter Vinay Reddy.
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A senior State Department official, in a statement to CNBC, said, ‘The 12 members of the Fulbright Board were partisan political appointees of the Biden Administration.’
This is just one more step by Trump to take back our education system and our country.
Image generated by AI.