Pete Hegseth announces breaking of ties between the US Department of War and Harvard University over ‘woke’ worry
On Feb 7, 2026, through a video message on X (formerly Twitter), Secretary of War Pete Hegseth announced that the United States Department of War will be breaking all academic ties with Harvard University. The reason? He claims the university has become a “factory for woke ideology and a breeding ground for anti-American radicals” that no longer aligns with the department’s emphasis on aspects such as “lethality” and “deterrence.”
Pete Hegseth is severing long-standing ties between the United States Department of War and Harvard University, and he is openly citing the reasons behind the same. Heads up. They are far from being logical.
One of the primary reasons Hegseth no longer wants to send his officers to Harvard University is because, according to him, the University is “one of the red-hot centres of hate-America activism”. Another reason that he gives for his decision is his dissatisfaction with the amount of impact the university education has had on the officers attending. In a detailed analysis, he notes, “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. 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.”
Pete Hegseth also provided other reasons for the break up between the Department of War and Harvard University, such as the latter’s alleged involvement with the Chinese Communist Party in the fields of research programmes. Additionally, Hegseth also claimed that the University created a “campus environment that celebrated Hamas” and “allowed attacks on Jews, and still promotes discrimination based on race in violation of Supreme Court decisions.” For context, Harvard University has strictly maintained a pro-Palestine stance ever since Israel started bombing them. The same has not been taken well by Donald Trump and several other Republicans.
Who will be affected by this decision?
As stated by the official page of the United States Department of War, starting with the 2026-2027 school year, it will discontinue all “graduate-level professional military education, fellowships and certificate programs” at the school. That being said, the military personnel who are already enrolled in programmes with the school will be able to finish their courses according to their respective timelines.
Hegseth, in his X video, has also shown an interest in re-evaluating the relationship the United States Department of War has with other schools, hinting at a possibility of severing ties if lapses are found.
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