Harvard University came under justified attack when it named Chelsea Manning a visiting fellow. Critics asked how Harvard could honor a former U.S. Army officer convicted of leaking 750,000 classified or sensitive documents.
The university rescinded the invitation, and Manning hit back, tweeting, "Honored to be 1st disinvited trans woman visiting Harvard fellow." That went far in answering the "how could Harvard" question.
Chelsea Manning, born Bradley Manning, was sentenced to 35 years in prison for espionage. President Obama commuted her sentence after she had served seven. Manning went on to cultivate her celebrity, gracing glossy magazines as a stylish woman.
Harvard, it would appear, invited Manning to be a fellow at its prestigious Institute of Politics as a gesture toward transgender rights. Its news release heralded her as the "first transgender fellow," leaving the prison part for the end.
Harvard came to its senses after Michael Morell, a deputy director of the CIA under Obama, resigned from the program in disgust. He wrote that Harvard's invitation honored "a convicted felon and leaker of classified information."
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https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2017/09/19/colleges_come_to_their_senses_the_hard_way_135024.html
