A letter from Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), appointed this spring to the Board of Trustees of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation, requests a “full review” of the program’s purported “political imbalance.” Stefanik cites recent findings by The College Fix and the American Enterprise Institute showing winners favored progressive causes—climate change, racial justice, DEI, LGBTQ+ rights, immigration—by a ratio exceeding 10:1 from 2021 to 2023. She contends this imbalance sidelines conservative-leaning applicants.
Stefanik additionally calls for the 2025 scholarship awarded to Eva Frazier, described as “pro-Hamas, antisemitic,” to be revoked. Frazier reportedly co-authored a Harvard student letter blaming Israel for the October 7 Hamas terror attack that killed over 1,200 and kidnapped more than 250. Stefanik refers to the award as inconsistent with “taxpayer-funded” public service standards and President Harry S. Truman’s legacy.
Stefanik’s letter urges the Foundation to reassess its recruitment, nomination, and selection protocols, questioning whether conservative or mainstream applicants are being unintentionally excluded. The Foundation’s executive secretary previously defended the process as merit-based, yet the new board member seeks transparency and ideological diversity in awarding taxpayer-supported scholarships.
This initiative follows earlier concerns raised in 2024 by Rep. Virginia Foxx, suggesting systemic ideological bias. The Truman Scholarship Foundation has not yet issued a public response to Stefanik’s letter, but the request highlights broader scrutiny of federal scholarship programs and their alignment with core American values such as free thought, public service, and balanced representation.
