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Straits Times
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Fulbright's future in doubt as Trump targets elite scholarship
Mr Ryan Sutherland thought he had all the credentials needed to win a prestigious Fulbright fellowship. A medical student at Yale University, his proposal to study HIV transmission among transgender sex workers in Malaysia had been cleared by a US Fulbright review committee. He had worked for years with the Malaysian research center where the project was to be housed. Instead, he was turned down. And after this week's abrupt resignation of most of the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, which cited unprecedented interference in the selection process by the Trump administration, he's left wondering whether he was denied a grant based on merit – or politics. The rejection letter didn't give a reason. 'People like me, who are early-career scientists, you're de-prioritising our whole career,' said Mr Sutherland, 31. 'It's creating this huge gap in research.' The administration's latest attempt to exert control over higher education has threatened a nearly 80-year-old institution that participants call a key instrument of American soft power. Every year, the highly selective Fulbright Programme awards more than 8,000 grants, both to US scholars pursuing research projects abroad and foreign academics seeking to study in the states. Created by Congress in the aftermath of World War II, the grants were meant to strengthen ties with other nations and cement America's image as a leader in cutting-edge research. On June 11, most members of the scholarship board resigned, after the administration blocked what they called 'a substantial number' of scholars from receiving the grants. The departing members, in a post on Substack, accused the administration of violating the law and warned the programme's integrity depended on remaining free from political interference. Now, that independence and the Fulbright's reputation for academic freedom are in doubt. Some of the rejected applicants planned to study topics the current administration does not favor, such as climate change. While some scholars search for alternate ways to fund their projects, others will likely consider research opportunities outside the US – undermining the point of the programme. 'If the Fulbright scholarship loses its integrity, it will impact the most effective form of soft diplomacy,' said Mr Haroon Rashid Sherzad, a 2006 scholar who now works in refugee support for an employment services firm in the UK. 'They're burning bridges between the US and other countries.' Reshaping higher education has been a key goal of President Donald Trump in his second term, a mission that has included attacks on Harvard University and stricter scrutiny of visa applications from foreign students. The US State Department, whose staff helps evaluate Fulbright grant applications, dismissed the board's criticism this week by calling the resigning members 'partisan political appointees' of former President Joe Biden. 'It's ridiculous to believe that these members would continue to have final say over the application process, especially when it comes to determining academic suitability and alignment with President Trump's executive orders,' a State Department official said. Several of the board members had prior roles in the administrations of Biden and President Barack Obama. Others have ties to such elite schools as Duke University and the University of California at Berkeley. Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas founded the programme in 1946, and it's currently administered by the US government in partnership with more than 160 countries. It receives an annual appropriation from Congress – totaling US$287.5 million (S$368.3 million) in 2023 – while other governments and host institutions also provide support. Board members are appointed by the president to three-year terms, but the programme is designed to be non-partisan. According to the members' resignation post, Congress specified that the board would have final approval authority over grant applications. Instead, 1,200 foreign grant recipients were being subjected to 'an unauthorised review process' and could be rejected, the members said. Mr Bera Topkara, a Fulbright scholar from Germany who studied theology at Emory University, began worrying about the programme's future after it cancelled a March seminar just weeks in advance. Now back in Berlin, he still encourages friends to apply, despite the uncertainty. 'It's not just the academic experience, it's also the personal connections of people who are coming to Germany and also people who are going to the US,' said Mr Topkara, 25. 'That's the essence of the programme: to really connect people all around the world. And that will be lost immediately.' The administration has now rejected applications for seven of 17 US researchers who otherwise would have been greenlit to visit Norway, said Mr Curt Rice, executive director for Fulbright Norway, a non-profit organisation that oversees the programme in that country. They planned to research questions related to ethnic and gender diversity as well as climate change, he said. Some European countries including Norway and the Netherlands have devised a 'plan B' for applicants, according to Mr Rice and others: If they are rejected, their home countries will provide them alternative grants to study at US universities and other institutions, just without the prestigious Fulbright title. Still, even those studying subjects deemed acceptable by the White House may look to places like Canada, Australia or China before considering the US, Mr Rice said, especially if Trump stocks a new Fulbright board with ideologues in his image. 'Stopping a few topics damages the reputation of the programme, by making it a programme that doesn't respect academic freedom,' he said. Even for those whose applications were not denied, the resignations may cause further processing issues for scholars who will soon embark on their Fulbright trips. Those who have applications pending review may have to wait longer as well. 'Their scholarships can't be reviewed until a new board is appointed, so it will extend the waiting period,' said Ms Maggie Mahoney, who recently completed a stay in India on a Fulbright Scholar Award for international education administrators. 'It's going to turn away students and scholars looking to apply for the next deadline.' Still, Ms Mahoney said she thinks board members made the right decision in resigning. 'It's a risk that the board was right in taking, because the statement needed to be made,' she said. 'Otherwise they remain complicit in the misuse of the Fulbright intention.' The resignations have sparked heated discussions among Fulbright alumni about the program's present and future. Ms Alana Deluty, president of the Rhode Island chapter of the Fulbright Association, said some in the Fulbright community are advising this year's foreign scholars to hold off quitting their jobs until every aspect of their stay in the US has been approved. She fears the administration's actions will only deepen what she sees as America's loss of international influence. 'The fact that we're alienating the smartest, most accomplished people in the world, who normally would be flocking to the US – it's a huge loss for this country,' Ms Deluty said. 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Bloomberg
13-06-2025
- Health
- Bloomberg
Fulbright's Future in Doubt as Trump Targets Elite Scholarship
The program's academic freedom has been called into question after the Trump administration rejected awards. By and Greg Ryan Save Ryan Sutherland thought he had all the credentials needed to win a prestigious Fulbright fellowship. A medical student at Yale University, his proposal to study HIV transmission among transgender sex workers in Malaysia had been cleared by a US Fulbright review committee. He had worked for years with the Malaysian research center where the project was to be housed.
