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The War Department said Friday it will end all professional military education, fellowships and certificate programs with Harvard University.
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth criticized the university in a video announcement posted on Twitter that the department would cut ties with Harvard for active-duty service members starting in the 2026–27 school year — a move he said was “long overdue.”
Hegseth said, “Harvard is woke; the War Department is not woke.”
While 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, he argued that Harvard has become one of the “red-hot centers of hate America activism.”
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Secretary of War Pete Hegseth arrives at the U.S. Capitol for a briefing with members of the House and Senate on Venezuela on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Washington. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)
He said, “Many faculty members openly hate our military. They present our armed forces in a negative light and suppress anyone who challenges their leftist political leanings, all the while charging huge tuition fees. It’s not worth it.” “They have replaced open inquiry and honest debate with rigid conservatism.”
This announcement comes amid the Trump administration’s ongoing dispute 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 primary target in its effort to leverage federal funding to crack down on anti-Semitism and “woke” ideology.
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Trump administration lawyers have appealed a judge’s order requiring Harvard to restore $2.7 billion in withheld federal research funds. The university sued the administration in April over the funding freeze, arguing in court that the move was an unconstitutional “pressure campaign” aimed at influencing and exerting control over specific educational institutions.
Hegseth also criticized Harvard’s campus environment, alleging that research programs have partnered with the Chinese Communist Party and that university leadership has encouraged an environment that celebrates Hamas, allows attacks on Jews, and prioritizes diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
“Why should the War Department support an environment that is destructive to our nation and the principles that the vast majority of Americans hold dear?” Hegseth said. “The answer to that question is that we shouldn’t do it, and we won’t.”
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Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced that military education programs with Harvard University will end in the 2026–27 academic year. (Omar Habana/Getty Images)
He added, “For too long, this department has sent our best and brightest officers to Harvard in hopes the university will better understand and appreciate our warrior class.” “Instead, too many of our officers came back looking like Harvard – filled with globalist and fundamentalist ideologies that do not improve our combat ranks.”
In addition to Harvard, Hegseth also took aim at the Ivy League, saying the schools lack viewpoint diversity, including “pervasive institutional bias” and “promoting toxic ideologies” that he said undermine the military’s mission.
He said that in the coming weeks, all Pentagon departments will evaluate existing graduate programs for active-duty service members at Ivy League schools and other civilian universities.
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Secretary of War Pete Hegseth described Harvard as one of the “fierce centers of hate America activism”. (associated Press)
“The goal is to determine whether they truly provide a cost-effective strategic education for future senior leaders, compared to public universities and our military graduate programs,” he said. “At the War Department, we will strive to maximize taxpayer value in building lethality to establish deterrence. It’s that simple. It no longer involves spending millions of dollars on expensive universities that actively undermine our mission and weaken our country.”
Hegseth ended his message by saying, “We train warriors, not walkers. Harvard, good riddance.”
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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.
