Every Last One Quit: Entire Board Admits It Can’t Handle Trump’s Heat, Votes to All Resign
The Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board has collectively decided to resign in response to actions taken by the trump administration concerning foreign student policies. The board expressed their concerns in a letter, citing that the administration has undermined both the integrity of the Fulbright program and U.S. national interests by implementing unauthorized reviews and overturning Fulbright award selections.They emphasized the program’s non-political nature and stated that these actions contradict the original mandate established by Congress nearly 80 years ago. The board has raised these issues multiple times with senior officials but has seen no resolution. Their resignation reflects a desire to protect the principles of free speech and academic freedom, wich they believe are being compromised. The letter concludes with a call for Congress and the courts to intervene to safeguard the program’s mission, although they express skepticism about the likelihood of intervention given the current political climate.
The entire Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board has resigned en masse.
And it’s all because of President Donald Trump and his administration’s crackdown on the rampant foreign student issues currently plaguing America’s institutions of higher learning.
In a letter posted Wednesday, the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board announced that it had “voted overwhelmingly” to all quit.
“Effective immediately, members of the Congressionally mandated Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board voted overwhelmingly to resign from the board, 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,” the board wrote.
“Under Democratic and Republican administrations alike, the Board has followed the law, operating with independence pursuant to its statutory mandate.
“Indeed, the Fulbright-Hays Act emphasizes the non-political and non-ideological character of the program,” the board said.
“However, the current administration has usurped the authority of the Board and denied Fulbright awards to a substantial number of individuals who were selected for the 2025-2026 academic year.
“The administration is also currently subjecting an additional 1,200 foreign Fulbright recipients to an unauthorized review process and could reject more.
“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.”
The board added: “We have raised these legal issues and our strong objections with senior administration officials on multiple occasions, including in writing.”
The board ended its letter with: “It is our sincere hope that Congress, the courts, and future Fulbright Boards will prevent the administration’s efforts to degrade, dismantle, or even eliminate one of our nation’s most respected and valuable programs.
“Injecting politics and ideological mandates into the Fulbright program violates the letter and spirit of the law that Congress so wisely established nearly eight decades ago.”
The now-former board members won’t be around to see if Congress does something, but such drastic intervention seems unlikely given some of the rampant issues the Trump administration has noted of late, specifically with foreign-born students.
Just this week, for example, authorities detained a Chinese student who was trying to smuggle biological material into the country.
“The alleged smuggling of biological materials by this alien from a science and technology university in Wuhan, China — to be used at a University of Michigan laboratory — is part of an alarming pattern that threatens our security,” United States Attorney Jerome Gorgon Jr. said of the incident.
Just a month earlier, the Stanford Review — a school paper — reported on its own institute of higher learning by calling out a web of “Chinese spies” that had effectively infiltrated the university.
“Transnational repression, $64 million in Chinese funding, and allegations of racial profiling have contributed to a pervasive culture of silence at Stanford and beyond,” the paper lamented.
In lieu of such silence, it’s clear the Trump administration is taking this matter very seriously — whether the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board likes it or not.
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