Pentagon to cut senior officer fellowship programs at MIT, other top schools
Hegseth accused MIT and peer schools of subjecting service members to “woke indoctrination”
Levy Le–The Tech
In a memo released on Friday, Feb. 27, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth ordered the U.S. Department of Defense to cut its academic ties to MIT by discontinuing graduate-level fellowship programs for senior officers at the Institute.
“Just like we did with Harvard, I am ordering the complete and immediate cancellation of all Department of War attendance at institutions like Princeton, Columbia, MIT, Brown, Yale, and many others starting next academic year,” Hegseth said in a video statement on social media.
As grounds for this move, Hegseth accused the Institute and other peer schools of subjecting service members to “woke indoctrination” and breaking the “sacred trust” between “America’s institutions and its warriors.”
“The Ivy League and similar institutions have gorged themselves on a trust fund of American taxpayer dollars only to become factories of anti-American resentment and military disdain,” Hegseth said. “They’ve traded true intellectual rigor for radical dogma.”
A press release stated that Senior Service College fellowships hosted at MIT would be canceled starting with the 2026–27 academic year, but added that service members currently enrolled would be allowed to complete their studies.
At this point, it appears that undergraduate programs like Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) will remain unaffected.
In a statement to The Tech, MIT spokesperson Kimberly Allen emphasized the Institute’s longstanding relationship with the military.
“MIT is proud of its significant role in military education. Over 12,000 military officers have been commissioned from MIT, with more than 150 reaching the rank of general or admiral. We have taught military science classes dating back to the opening of our doors,” Allen said.
Allen added that the Institute’s acclaimed programs in computer science, naval engineering, nuclear science, and more were “critical to modern defense.”
“We’re honestly surprised at the idea of taking such educational opportunities off the table,” Allen said.
On Feb. 28, the Institute updated its homepage with links to articles, webpages, and other media highlighting its commitment to the military in an apparent response. One post spotlighted MIT’s Air Force ROTC program; another noted that MIT has awarded 604 degrees to service members in the last five years.
An attachment to the departmental memo from Hegseth shows that seven Senior Service College fellowships at MIT were canceled, the fourth-highest number out of the affected institutions. For comparison, 21 fellowships were canceled at Harvard, 11 at Johns Hopkins, and one at Princeton.
Hegseth also wrote in the memo that a “revised list of elite institutions” was being compiled by the Pentagon to replace the affected universities. Potential schools under consideration include Liberty University and Hillsdale College.