by Casey Harper
Lawmakers have threatened to defund a federally funded scholarship program that an audit found favors liberal-leaning students over conservatives by a 10-to-1 ratio.
The Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation was established in the 1970s to award scholarships to students who “demonstrate exceptional potential and plan a career in public service.”
But an audit of these grants by the right-wing American Enterprise Institute found a robust liberal bias at the taxpayer-funded foundation.
“While this role suggests that these programs should include scholars representing a wide range of views, values and interests, participants instead demonstrate a clear ideological tilt,” AEI said in its report report.
Members of both parties serve on the foundation’s board, including U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, and U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kans.
Notably, President Joe Biden’s Education Secretary Miguel Cardona also serves on the board.
House Republican lawmakers involved in committee leadership sent a letter to the foundation’s executive secretary, Terry Babcock-Lumish, demanding answers.
“From 2021 to 2023, the Truman Foundation selected 182 Truman winners,” letter he said. “Yet despite the Truman Foundation’s claims that it ‘supports scientists from a wide range of perspectives, interests and geographic areas,’ only six recipients expressed interest in a cause traditionally considered conservative.”
“Neither winner expressed interest in issues such as protecting the rights of the unborn or defending the Second Amendment,” the letter continued. “In contrast, the Foundation selected at least 74 winners who expressed an interest in a progressive cause.”
The Foundation awards approximately 60 scholarships every year.
“As a publicly funded award designed to prepare future civic leaders, the Truman Scholarship should, at a minimum, reflect a broad range of the country’s values, perspectives and interests,” the letter said. “The Truman Foundation has requested approximately $3 million in funding for the upcoming fiscal year. However, if the Truman Scholarship functions solely as a career aid for students of a certain political orientation, it should no longer be worthy of congressional support, taxpayer funding, or an exalted public image.”
Education and Labor Committee Chairman Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., Subcommittee of the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development Chairman Burgess Owens, R-Utah, and Chairman of the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Robert Aderholt , R-Ala., led the letter.
The foundation did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.
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Casey Harper is a senior reporter Central Square for the Washington Bureau. He previously worked for The Daily Caller, The Hill and Sinclair Broadcast Group. Casey, a graduate of Hillsdale College, has also published articles on Fox News, Fox Business and USA Today.
Photo “Students” by Jan Krukau.
