Latest news with #FulbrightBoard
CNN
12-06-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Fulbright scholarship board members resign over ‘unprecedented actions' by the Trump administration
Nearly all of the members of the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board resigned on Wednesday, claiming the Trump administration is taking 'unprecedented actions' they believe are 'impermissible under the law.' The board said the Trump administration denied a 'substantial number' of Fulbright awards to people who had already been selected for the 2025-2026 academic year and included 'an unauthorized review process' for an additional 1,200 foreign Fulbright recipients who could now be rejected from the program, according to a statement posted online. '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,' they write. The resignations are the latest development in the saga between President Donald Trump and educational institutions that has seen the administration target colleges and universities across the country, threaten funding over political ideology and revoke scores of student visas. The Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board consists of 12 members appointed by the president and was established by Congress in 1961. The members select students, scholars, teachers and others to participate in the cultural exchange program. Carmen Estrada-Schaye is the only remaining board member after the resignations, according to the Associated Press. She is also the only member currently listed on the State Department's website. CNN has reached out to the State Department for comment. The award's 'proud legacy has depended on one thing above all: the integrity of the program's selection process based on merit, not ideology, and its insulation from political interference. That integrity is now undermined,' the former board members wrote in their statement. New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the move will 'change the quality of Fulbright programming.' 'While I understand and respect the bipartisan Fulbright Board for resigning en masse rather than grant credibility to a politicized and unlawful process, I'm painfully aware that yesterday's move will change the quality of Fulbright programming and the independent research that has made our country a leader in so many fields,' Shaheen said in a statement. The scholarship board said they have raised legal issues and objections with senior officials in the Trump administration on multiple occasions but claim the officials have failed to respond or attempt 'good faith efforts to course correct.' The Trump administration has recently made moves that could deter international students from studying in the US. Trump signed a proclamation earlier this month to suspend international visas for new students at Harvard University, and the State Department instructed US embassies and consulates around the world to pause new student visa appointments as it moves to expand 'social media screening and vetting.' A Fulbright scholar and Columbia University student left the country after she was told she faced immigration action as part of Trump's crackdown on international students who participated in protests against the Israel-Hamas war. The Trump administration's statements and actions aimed at curtailing the number of international students in the US have already sent a chill of uncertainty through higher education institutions, and a drop-off in international students could reverberate through the US labor market and broader economy in years to come.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Fulbright board resigns citing interference by Trump administration
By Ryan Patrick Jones (Reuters) -All members of the board that oversees the U.S. State Department's Fulbright Program, which facilitates international educational exchanges, have voted to resign over alleged political interference from President Donald Trump's administration, the board said on Wednesday. The Trump administration had unlawfully "usurped the authority" of the board by denying awards to a "substantial number" of people who had already been selected for the 2025-2026 academic year through a yearlong, merit-based process, the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board said in a statement posted on the website Substack. The department is also putting another 1,200 Fulbright recipients through an "unauthorized review process" that could lead to more rejections, according to the statement. The board members chose to resign 'rather than endorse unprecedented actions that we believe are impermissible under the law, compromise U.S. national interests and integrity, and undermine the mission and mandates Congress established for the Fulbright program nearly 80 years ago," they said. The State Department didn't immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.. The New York Times reported the board had approved the applications of around 200 American professors and researchers who were set to work at universities and research institutions in other countries this summer, and the State Department was meant to send acceptance letters to the applicants in April. Instead, board members learned the department's Office of Public Diplomacy had begun sending rejection letters to the scholars based on the topics of their research. "The bipartisan Fulbright Board was mandated by Congress to be a check on the executive and to ensure that students, researchers and educators are not subjected to the blatant political favoritism that this Administration is known for," Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement. "While I understand and respect the bipartisan Fulbright Board for resigning en masse rather than grant credibility to a politicized process, I'm painfully aware that today's move will change the quality of Fulbright programming and the independent research that has made our country a leader in so many fields," she added. The Fulbright program, which was established in 1946, sends U.S. graduate students, scholars, artists, teachers, and professionals abroad to study, conduct research or teach English in approximately 160 countries worldwide. The program awards approximately 8,000 competitive, merit-based grants each year in most academic disciplines and fields of study, according to its website. Since taking office for his second term in January, Trump's administration has undertaken a major overhaul of the State Department, enacted massive funding cuts for academic research, and curbed visas for foreign students.
Bloomberg
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Fulbright Board Quits, Saying Trump Aides Blocked Scholarships
The Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board resigned en masse to protest what it called unprecedented interference after the Trump administration denied a significant number of US academics from receiving the prestigious awards. The rejected scholarships for the 2025-2026 academic year would have covered studies in areas from biochemistry and medical sciences to history, the 12-member Fulbright board said in a statement Wednesday on Substack. Trump aides may also reject more scholarships as they conduct an 'unauthorized review' of 1,200 foreign Fulbright recipients, it said.
Straits Times
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Fulbright board resigns citing interference by Trump administration
FILE PHOTO: The seal of the United States Department of State is seen in Washington, U.S., January 26, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/File Photo/File Photo All members of the board that oversees the U.S. State Department's Fulbright Program, which facilitates international educational exchanges, have voted to resign over alleged political interference from President Donald Trump's administration, the board said on Wednesday. The Trump administration had unlawfully "usurped the authority" of the board by denying awards to a "substantial number" of people who had already been selected for the 2025-2026 academic year through a yearlong, merit-based process, the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board said in a statement posted on the website Substack. The department is also putting another 1,200 Fulbright recipients through an "unauthorized review process" that could lead to more rejections, according to the statement. The board members chose to resign 'rather than endorse unprecedented actions that we believe are impermissible under the law, compromise U.S. national interests and integrity, and undermine the mission and mandates Congress established for the Fulbright program nearly 80 years ago," they said. The State Department didn't immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.. The New York Times reported the board had approved the applications of around 200 American professors and researchers who were set to work at universities and research institutions in other countries this summer, and the State Department was meant to send acceptance letters to the applicants in April. Instead, board members learned the department's Office of Public Diplomacy had begun sending rejection letters to the scholars based on the topics of their research. "The bipartisan Fulbright Board was mandated by Congress to be a check on the executive and to ensure that students, researchers and educators are not subjected to the blatant political favoritism that this Administration is known for," Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement. "While I understand and respect the bipartisan Fulbright Board for resigning en masse rather than grant credibility to a politicized process, I'm painfully aware that today's move will change the quality of Fulbright programming and the independent research that has made our country a leader in so many fields," she added. The Fulbright program, which was established in 1946, sends U.S. graduate students, scholars, artists, teachers, and professionals abroad to study, conduct research or teach English in approximately 160 countries worldwide. The program awards approximately 8,000 competitive, merit-based grants each year in most academic disciplines and fields of study, according to its website. Since taking office for his second term in January, Trump's administration has undertaken a major overhaul of the State Department, enacted massive funding cuts for academic research, and curbed visas for foreign students. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Reuters
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
Fulbright board resigns citing interference by Trump administration
June 11 (Reuters) - All members of the board that oversees the U.S. State Department's Fulbright Program, which facilitates international educational exchanges, have voted to resign over alleged political interference from President Donald Trump's administration, the board said on Wednesday. The Trump administration had unlawfully "usurped the authority" of the board by denying awards to a "substantial number" of people who had already been selected for the 2025-2026 academic year through a yearlong, merit-based process, the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board said in a statement posted on the website Substack. The department is also putting another 1,200 Fulbright recipients through an "unauthorized review process" that could lead to more rejections, according to the statement. The board members chose to resign 'rather than endorse unprecedented actions that we believe are impermissible under the law, compromise U.S. national interests and integrity, and undermine the mission and mandates Congress established for the Fulbright program nearly 80 years ago," they said. The State Department didn't immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.. The New York Times reported the board had approved the applications of around 200 American professors and researchers who were set to work at universities and research institutions in other countries this summer, and the State Department was meant to send acceptance letters to the applicants in April. Instead, board members learned the department's Office of Public Diplomacy had begun sending rejection letters to the scholars based on the topics of their research. "The bipartisan Fulbright Board was mandated by Congress to be a check on the executive and to ensure that students, researchers and educators are not subjected to the blatant political favoritism that this Administration is known for," Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement. "While I understand and respect the bipartisan Fulbright Board for resigning en masse rather than grant credibility to a politicized process, I'm painfully aware that today's move will change the quality of Fulbright programming and the independent research that has made our country a leader in so many fields," she added. The Fulbright program, which was established in 1946, sends U.S. graduate students, scholars, artists, teachers, and professionals abroad to study, conduct research or teach English in approximately 160 countries worldwide. The program awards approximately 8,000 competitive, merit-based grants each year in most academic disciplines and fields of study, according to its website. Since taking office for his second term in January, Trump's administration has undertaken a major overhaul of the State Department, enacted massive funding cuts for academic research, and curbed visas for foreign students.
