Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger hit back at Secretary of War Pete Hegseth after the Pentagon announced it would cut ties and funding relationships with numerous collegiate institutions over what it described as woke ideologies.
A Pentagon leadership memo initialed ‘PBH’ — the secretary’s full name is Peter Brian Hegseth — sent just before the U.S. bombed Iran and entitled ‘Aligning senior service college opportunities with American values,’ laid out an examination of standing ‘Professional Military Education institutions, [the] bedrock upon which we build lethal warfighters grounded in the founding principles that underpin American
Spanberger fired back after it was reported that the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va., would be affected. The Norfolk Virginian-Pilot covered her remarks at a high school in Hampton — about halfway between the two cities.
Spanberger said the move is an ‘outrageous attack at yet another point of pride in Virginia,’ as the memo said the Senior Service College programs there would be ended and that servicemembers would lose support.
‘The idea that the Pentagon would pull back from this fellowship program that has been long a fixture at William & Mary is just outrageous,’ she said, according to the paper.
The Pentagon memo said the department will ‘no longer invest in institutions that fail to sharpen our leaders’ warfighting capabilities or that undermine the very values they swore to defend,’ and that more than a dozen schools faced termination.
Spanberger, who formerly worked for the CIA, said the move speaks to the Defense Department’s ‘lack of understanding of the real strength of universities, whether it’s William & Mary or others, in educating the next generation of military leadership,’ according to the paper.
She also cited the fact William & Mary’s current chancellor is himself one of Hegseth’s predecessors.
Robert Gates was former President George H.W. Bush’s director of central intelligence and later served as Secretary of Defense under President George W. Bush, remaining in the role into former President Barack Obama’s term.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Pentagon for comment.
In a statement obtained by Hampton Roads’ CBS affiliate, the college administration said it was ‘puzzled and saddened’ by Hegseth’s move, saying that William & Mary is ‘among the country’s most military-friendly institutions’ and also embraces its ROTC program.
While the Williamsburg school may be on the chopping block, the affiliate reported that Regent University in Virginia Beach — founded by Christian evangelist Pat Robertson — may be considered one of the replacement institutions.
In the memo, Harvard, Washington University in St. Louis, MIT, Tufts, Georgetown, George Washington University, Princeton, Yale, Brown and Queen’s University in Canada were listed as schools facing separation.
Colleges being considered as replacements include Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., The Citadel, Virginia Tech, the University of North Carolina, Clemson University and Hillsdale College in Michigan.