AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
The Department of Defense has selected UNC-Chapel Hill as one of two universities to host a fellowship program for senior military officers.
Read more NCHSAA names new commissioner to succeed Que Tucker, run public school athletics
UNC’s selection replaces a long list of institutions once home to the fellowship, which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called “woke breeding grounds of toxic indoctrination.”
The department eliminated the fellowship program at 22 institutions, including such elite universities as Columbia University, Yale University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as well as Hegseth’s alma maters: Harvard University and Princeton University. Hegseth accused Ivy League universities of “pervasive bias that undercuts our mission and coddles adversaries.” The shift away from these institutions is aimed at “rebuilding the warrior ethos.”
The man responsible for carrying out this significant shift in military education in the Trump administration is the undersecretary for personnel and readiness, Anthony Tata — former Wake County public schools superintendent and secretary of the North Carolina Department of Transportation.
The fellowship, which will now be hosted by both Carolina and Virginia Tech, prepares military leaders to deal with complex national security issues — including artificial intelligence, public policy and international affairs — and attempts to hone their leadership and decision-making skills.
Read more After 119 years, Durham’s Black-owned bank to be sold and renamed in merger
“We are proud to partner with Chancellor Roberts and UNC-Chapel Hill — a university with a rich tradition of service and support for our men and women in uniform — to develop a rigorous new Senior Service College Fellowship Program, equipping our officers to meet our critical national security mission,” Tata said in a statement shared by UNC.
Chancellor Lee Roberts said in a video announcement that the department’s selection of UNC is a “meaningful honor.” The university will work with the department to develop a program that helps military officers progress through their careers, Roberts said.
The military fellows “will have access to one of the world’s great research universities,” Provost Magnus Egerstedt said in the same video announcement. “We are ready to receive the fellows, and we are ready to give them an education worthy of their service.”
According to an army webpage about the program, the next fellowship class begins in late July 2027.
Read more Shrimp from 22 NC restaurants were tested. Only half served ‘wild-caught’