Harvard revokes Manning’s fellowship
AHarvard dean yesterday revoked an invitation for convicted US intelligence leaker Chelsea Manning to be a visiting fellow at the prestigious university following sharp criticism over the invite.
Manning, however, will still speak to Harvard students, but not be considered a visiting fellow, the dean of the Harvard Kennedy School said in a statement.
“I see more clearly now that many people view a Visiting Fellow title as an honorific,” Dean Douglas Elmendorf wrote.
“Therefore, we are withdrawing the invitation to her to serve as a Visiting Fellow — and the perceived honour that it implies to some people — while maintaining the invitation for her to spend a day at the Kennedy School and speak in the (School) Forum.”
CIA director Mike Pompeo pulled out of a Harvard forum and former acting director Mike Morrell quit the university Thursday to protest Manning’s appointment as a visiting fellow. Pompeo, who was scheduled to speak late Thursday at the Kennedy School of Government, cancelled at the last minute following news of Manning’s speaking engagement.
Labelling Manning an “American traitor,” Pompeo said in a statement that his conscience would not allow him to “betray the trust” of the Central Intelligence Agency staff by appearing to support Harvard’s decision by joining the event.
Pompeo, who attended Harvard Law School, said it was “shameful” that Harvard gave Manning’s actions its “stamp of approval.”
Elmendorf said that inviting Manning to be a visiting fellow “was a mistake, for which I accept responsibility.”