All members of the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board announced their resignation on Wednesday, releasing a statement accusing President Donald Trump's administration of political interference in the prestigious exchange program.
The 12-member board alleged the Trump administration "usurped the authority of the Board" by denying Fulbright awards to "a substantial number of individuals" who were selected for the 2025-2026 academic year.
The board also alleged the administration is currently "subjecting" an additional 1,200 international Fulbright recipients to "an unauthorized review process and could reject more."
"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 said in its statement.
Posted by John3262005
2 Comments
Are they checking for political donation history
I don’t know; this seems to be a case where “resign in protest” wasn’t thought through. Their resignation, unintentionally, seems to just be them getting out of the administration’s way. There are times to resign in protest if your resignation would take away wanted talent/clients, cause a political uproar, or if you personally want to keep your hands clean. None of that really applies here, though.
It just seems to be aiding the administration in staffing sympathizers and sycophants who will not dissent or delay. At least if you stay, you can remain an annoyance and push the boundaries as far as possible while waiting for a different administration to save the day.