All of the board members of the prestigious Fulbright program “voted overwhelmingly” to quit after claiming the Trump administration “usurped” their authority.
The 12-member Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board announced the resignations Wednesday, saying in a statement that they would not “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.”
The statement claimed the administration “denied Fulbright awards to a substantial number of individuals who were selected for the 2025-2026 academic year.”
All 12 members of the Fulbright Scholarship Board resigned on Wednesday in protest of Trump’s intervention in the selection process:
“This proud legacy has depended on one thing above all: the integrity of the program’s selection process based on merit, not ideology, and its… pic.twitter.com/DeXJu6hlWa
— Amee Vanderpool (@girlsreallyrule) June 11, 2025
“The prestigious program, which awards a select group of scholars and academics the opportunity to continue research abroad each year, is managed by the State Department, where career officials conduct a yearlong search for applicants, who are ultimately approved by the independent Fulbright board,” The Hill explained.
The government-funded program, established by Congress in 1942 under then-President Harry Truman, reportedly provides scholarships annually to about 4,000 foreign students.
The board’s statement claimed the administration was “subjecting an additional 1,200 foreign Fulbright recipients to an unauthorized review process,” and more rejections could follow.
“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 said.
“It is worth noting that the awards that were overridden include studies in categories such as biology, engineering, architecture, agriculture, crop sciences, animal sciences, biochemistry, medical sciences, music, and history,” the statement continued.
“We have raised these legal issues and our strong objections with senior administration officials on multiple occasions, including in writing. The officials have refused to acknowledge or respond to the Board, failing to even attempt good faith efforts to course correct and operate the Program in accordance with the statute,” the former board members wrote, adding that the resignations were “not a decision we take lightly.”
“Injecting politics and ideological mandates into the Fulbright program violates the letter and spirit of the law,” they added.
A senior State Department official told ABC News that the decision was “a political stunt attempting to undermine President Trump.”
“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,” the official said in a statement to the outlet.
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Author: Frieda Powers
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