The entire 12-member Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board resigned Wednesday, accusing President Donald Trump’s administration of partisan meddling by undermining the program’s selection process.
The members of the board wrote in a resignation statement they would depart their roles “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.”
Their accusation that “the current administration has usurped the authority of the Board” includes denying awards to “a substantial number of individuals” already selected and subjecting another 1,200 recipients to “an unauthorized review process.”