Hegseth severs Pentagon's academic ties with Harvard

The US defence department said it is severing academic ties to Harvard and ending professional military education fellowships, the latest blow to the university from the federal govt.Secretary Pete Hegseth, a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School, said in a post Friday night that attendance at the school no longer "meets the needs" of the department or the military services.He said the Pentagon will discontinue graduate-level professional military education, fellowships and certificate programs at the Harvard Kennedy School starting in the next academic year. "For too long, this department has sent our best and brightest officers to Harvard, hoping the university would better understand and appreciate our warrior class," Hegseth said. "Instead, too many of our officers came back looking too much like Harvard - heads full of globalist and radical ideologies that do not improve our fighting ranks." The Trump administration has been targeting higher education for concerns over antisemitism, diversity programmes, and perceived political bias and lack of academic rigour. Several elite universities struck deals with the administration. Harvard hasn't settled and this week Trump demanded $1 billion after the New York Times reported they were close to a deal. bloomberg