The entire board, which is responsible for approving the Fulbright Scholarship, resigned Wednesday, citing interference from the Donald Trump administration, as the administration wanted to cancel the awarding of Fulbright scholarships to almost 200 American professors and researchers who are prepared to go to universities overseas, the NYT reported. These are scholarships that the board already approved over the winter after a yearlong selection process.These were sent to the State Department as the department was supposed to send acceptance letters. But the department started sending rejection letters to these scholars.
What is the Fulbright program?
The Fulbright program was established in 1946 after legislation introduced by J. William Fulbright, a Democratic senator from Arkansas. The Fulbright-Hays Act of 1961 formalized legal statutes for the program. It says the selection of scholars, teachers and others falls under the authority of a 12-member board appointed by the president. The nearly 200 scholars who are receiving rejection letters are part of a group of about 900 American scholars approved by the board over the winter.All 12 people on the board who were appointed by the Biden administration quit citing usurpation of the authority of the Board. “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 said in a statement. “Through generations of war and peace, the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Program has been a bipartisan pillar of American diplomacy—an enduring symbol of our nation’s commitment to mutual understanding and diplomacy, academic excellence, and international cooperation. It has promoted US interests and global stability. Fulbright alumni have gone on to become leaders of government, industry, academia, arts, and culture in every part of the world,” the statement noted.