Harvard University has retracted its fellowship invitation to Chelsea Manning, the transgender soldier who leaked classified information while serving in the US army, after protests from the CIA.
Manning was released in May from a men’s military prison in Kansas, where she had been incarcerated for her involvement in the biggest data breach of classified information in US history. The military whistleblower had been invited to speak at Harvard’s Kennedy School as a visiting fellow, but news of this invitation caused the director of the CIA, Mike Pompeo, to cancel an appearance at the university.
Douglas Elmendorf, the dean of the Kennedy School, said: “I now think that designating Chelsea Manning as a visiting fellow was a mistake, for which I accept responsibility. I see more clearly now that many people view a visiting fellow title as an honorific, so we should weigh that consideration when offering invitations.”
While the university is withdrawing Manning’s fellowship, the invitation to spend a day on campus and speak at a forum still stands, the dean said.
Pompeo expressed outrage at the decision to award Manning a fellowship in a letter to the university, saying: “My conscience and duty to the men and women of the Central Intelligence Agency will not permit me to betray their trust by appearing to support Harvard’s decision with my appearance”.
Former deputy director of the CIA Michael Morell also resigned his senior fellow post at the university on the grounds that he “cannot be part of an organization […] that honors a convicted felon and leaker of classified information, Ms. Chelsea Manning, by inviting her to be a visiting fellow at the Kennedy School's Institute of Politics."
Manning responded to the withdrawal of the invitation on Twitter, saying she was “honored to be 1st disinvited trans woman visiting Harvard fellow. They chill marginalized voices under CIA pressure.”
