Pentagon Cuts Harvard Ties, Calls University 'Woke'; Ivy League Programs To Be Reviewed

The Pentagon announced on Friday that it will sever institutional ties with Harvard University, ending all military training, fellowship and certificate programs with the Ivy League school beginning in the 2026–27 academic year. The decision marks a new escalation in the ongoing dispute between the Trump administration and Harvard over campus policies and federal oversight.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a statement that Harvard "no longer meets the needs of the War Department or the military services," using the administration's preferred label for the Department of Defense. He accused the university of leaving officers "with heads full of globalist and radical ideologies" that do not strengthen the military's ranks.

"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."

Hegseth also posted on X, "Harvard is woke; The War Department is not." The Pentagon said personnel currently enrolled in Harvard programs will be permitted to finish their courses, but it will discontinue graduate-level professional military education, fellowships and certificate programs at Harvard starting with the 2026–27 academic year.

The Defense Department said comparable programs at other Ivy League institutions will be reviewed in the coming weeks amid allegations of a "pervasive institutional bias." Harvard operates several programs for veterans and active-duty service members, including fellowships at the Harvard Kennedy School, and the university traces military ties back to the Revolutionary War.

Hegseth, who earned a master’s degree from Harvard, publicly returned his diploma in a 2022 television segment; the clip was later shared by a Pentagon social media account run by his office. The military offers officers graduate-education opportunities at service-run war colleges and at civilian institutions such as Harvard—programs that can help service members transition to civilian careers after military service.

The move comes amid a broader confrontation between the Trump administration and elite universities. Administration officials have cut billions in federal research funding to Harvard and sought restrictions on foreign-student enrollment after Harvard resisted a set of government demands last year. The White House frames its actions as a response to toleration of anti-Jewish bias on campus; Harvard contends the administration is engaging in unlawful retaliation and has filed two lawsuits. Federal judges issued rulings favorable to Harvard in both cases, and the government is appealing.

President Trump had signaled a possible agreement with Harvard earlier in the summer, but no deal materialized; the White House later demanded $1 billion from Harvard as part of any restoration of federal funding, a sum the administration doubled from an earlier demand. Several other elite schools reached settlements: Columbia agreed to pay $200 million to the federal government, and Brown agreed to donate $50 million to workforce development programs.

This announcement expands the standoff into military-education relationships and may prompt reviews of similar programs at other Ivy League institutions in the weeks ahead.