Harvard backs out of fellowship for Chelsea Manning
CIA director skips speech over honor for document leaker.
Harvard University reversed its decis i on 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 con- victed of leaking classified information.
Douglas Elmendorf, 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 honor.
“We invited Chelsea Manning to spend a day at the KennedySchool,” he wrote. “On that basis, we also named Chelsea Manning a Visiting Fellow. We did not intend to honor her in any way or to endorse any of her words or deeds, as we do not honor 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.
Manning responded on Twitter early Friday, writing that she was “honored to be 1st disinvited trans woman visiting @harvard fellow.”
“They chill marginalized voices under @cia pressure,” she said while also accusing the school of letting the CIA determine “what is and is not taught.”
Elmendorf delivered the news in a brief phone call with Manning and three of her representatives hours after the canceled Pompeo event Thursday, according to a member of Manning’s team who was in the room when she received the call.
Elmendorf didn’t immediately return a request for comment Friday.
The 29-year-old Manning is a transgender woman who was known as Bradley Manning when she was convicted in 2013 of leaking a trove of classified documents. She was released from a military prison in May after serving seven years of a 35-year sentence, which was commuted by President Barack Obama in his final days in office.
Manning explained on ABC’s “Good Morning America” inarecent interview that she was prompted to give the information to WikiLeaks because of the human toll of the “death, destruction and mayhem” she saw while serving in Iraq.
Pompeo was a last-minute cancellation at a speaking event at Harvard on Thursday night.
The CIA later released a letter that Pompeo, who has a law degree from Harvard, wrote to a university official. Pompeo said an appearance would betray the trust of CIA employees and stressed that his decision had nothing to do with Manning’s transgender identity.