Harvard scraps decision to give Chelsea Manning a fellowship
Harvard University reversed its decision to name Chelsea Manning a visiting fellow early Friday, a day after CIA Director Mike Pompeo scrapped a planned appearance over the title for the soldier who was convicted of leaking classified information.
Douglas Elmendorf, the dean of the university’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, wrote in a statement posted to the university’s website that naming Manning a visiting fellow was a mistake, even though he said the title carries no special honour.
“We invited Chelsea Manning to spend a day at the Kennedy School,” he wrote. “On that basis, we also named Chelsea Manning a Visiting Fellow. We did not intend to honour her in any way or to endorse any of her words or deeds, as we do not honour or endorse any Fellow.”
Elmendorf apologized to Manning and to “many concerned people” he said he had heard from “for not recognizing upfront the full implications of our original invitation.” Manning is still invited to spend a day at the school and speak to students, though without the visiting fellow title, he wrote.