Harvard Dean Douglas W. Elmendorf insisted the school “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,” but admitted “I now think that designating Chelsea Manning as a Visiting Fellow was a mistake.”
“We are withdrawing the invitation to her to serve as a Visiting Fellow—and the perceived honor that it implies to some people—while maintaining the invitation for her to spend a day at the Kennedy School and speak in the Forum,” he said.
Harvard’s concessions comes after CIA Director Mike Pompeo canceled an appearance at Harvard at the last minute citing the school’s awarding of a fellowship to Manning.
Pompeo stressed that his decision to skip his Thursday evening appearance “has nothing to do with Ms. Manning’s identity as a transgender woman” but “it has everything to do with her identity as a traitor to the United States of America.” Pompeo has previously likened Wikileaks, the organization Manning assisted, as a “hostile intelligence agency.”.... [READ MORE]
