Hegseth announces 5 new non-Ivy League partnerships

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced new Pentagon partnerships with five non-Ivy League colleges and universities Wednesday amid his ongoing efforts to distance the military from America’s most prestigious higher education institutions.

“We’re partnering with a new crop of premier higher ed institutions, including Louisiana State University [LSU], Liberty University, Tuskegee University, Mississippi State University and Hillsdale College,” Hegseth said during a speech Wednesday in Quantico, Va.

“These schools have stepped forward to answer the call to duty and establish new corps of cadets in partnership with the Department of War,” Hegseth added, using his preferred term for the Department of Defense. “So today, at my direction, we are formally establishing a program to assist these universities and colleges. It’s called, ‘America’s Corps of Cadets.’”

The announcement came months after he ordered the cancellation of members of the military attending some Ivy League and top-ranked universities, alleging in February that the schools taught the “enemy’s wicked ideologies.”

Hegseth said during his speech that the new program “is central to our goal of increasing the number of patriotic leaders of character who are commissioned into our joint force.”

Earlier this year, Hegseth restricted military officers from taking part in graduate programs at multiple elite universities, including Harvard University, Brown University, Princeton University and Yale University.

The Defense secretary, an alumnus of Harvard and Princeton, claimed these schools had turned into “woke breeding grounds of toxic indoctrination.”

Two months ago, the Defense Department chose the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Virginia Tech to host a refurbished fellowship program for senior military officers. Both schools were selected for the new Senior Service College Fellowship, a professional military education program lasting 10 months and serving as an alternative to traditional war colleges.

Schools in “America’s Corps of Cadets” “will maintain exceptionally high standards of cadet discipline, tactical instruction and military organization,” Hegseth said. He added the five higher education institutions will receive “Honor School” status, which he said will grant them “priority in officer commissioning.”

Hegseth said the Pentagon previously used the “distinguished military college” label and is bringing it back for the new program. Its implementation will commence within the month, according to an announcement memo .