--- title: Chelsea Manning: Harvard Rescinds Visiting Fellow Title description: The Kennedy School said the decision to appoint Manning a visiting fellow was "a mistake," but it will still invite Manning to to visit. canonical: https://time.com/4943017/harvard-chelsea-manning-visiting-fellow/ author: Kevin Lui article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-09-15T06:22:51.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T03:39:02.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Harvard: Chelsea Manning Can Visit, Just Not as a Fellow og:description: Harvard's back-pedalling follows protests from U.S. intelligence leaders. og:url: https://time.com/4943017/harvard-chelsea-manning-visiting-fellow/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt479bed67aaf26f15/6988dde6e76ad22c8962f28b/gettyimages-694226476.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: Chelsea Manning 2017 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Harvard: Chelsea Manning Can Visit, Just Not as a Fellow twitter:description: Harvard's back-pedalling follows protests from U.S. intelligence leaders. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt479bed67aaf26f15/6988dde6e76ad22c8962f28b/gettyimages-694226476.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Harvard Says Chelsea Manning Can Still Visit, But Not as a Fellow > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: What to Know About Chelsea Manning [Watch (HLS stream): What to Know About Chelsea Manning](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/hFOpORd2.m3u8) (2:40)  _Published 2017-05-16. Chelsea Manning, an ex-Army soldier convicted of leaking a trove of secret U.S. documents, is set to be released from prison on May 17, about four months after former President Obama drastically shortened her sentence just before he left office._ by [Kevin Lui](https://time.com/author/kevin-lui/) ## Kevin Lui Updated: Dec 13, 2023 3:39 AM UTCPublished: Sep 15, 2017 6:22 AM UTC  This photo dated June 8, 2017 shows Chelsea Manning sitting for an interview with the ABC News program 'Nightline.' This photo dated June 8, 2017 shows Chelsea Manning sitting for an interview with the ABC News program 'Nightline.' Heidi Gutman—ABC/Getty Images by [Kevin Lui](https://time.com/author/kevin-lui/) ## Kevin Lui Updated: Dec 13, 2023 3:39 AM UTCPublished: Sep 15, 2017 6:22 AM UTC The Harvard Kennedy School [rescinded](https://www.hks.harvard.edu/announcements/statement-dean-elmendorf-regarding-invitation-chelsea-manning-be-visiting-fellow?utm%5Fmedium=social&utm%5Fcampaign=hks-twitter&utm%5Fsource=twitter#) its designation of Chelsea Manning as a visiting fellow late Thursday, calling [the initial decision](http://time.com/4942882/mike-pompeo-cia-director-protests-chelsea-manning-harvard/) “a mistake.” “We invited Chelsea Manning to spend a day at the Kennedy School,” said dean Douglas Elmendorf [in a statement](https://www.hks.harvard.edu/announcements/statement-dean-elmendorf-regarding-invitation-chelsea-manning-be-visiting-fellow?utm%5Fmedium=social&utm%5Fcampaign=hks-twitter&utm%5Fsource=twitter#), explaining that Manning was invited to talk to interested students, and then give remarks at a forum where attendees could “ask hard questions and challenge what she has said and done.” “We did not intend to honor her in any way or to endorse any of her words or deeds,” Elmendorf continued. Manning served more than six years in prison over her role in the massive 2010 leak of classified U.S. documents to WikiLeaks, and was pardoned by then-President Barack Obama before his term concluded in January. The invitation for Manning to visit Kennedy School stands, according to Elmendorf. However, the school is “withdrawing the invitation to her to serve as a Visiting Fellow—and the perceived honor that it implies to some people.” Manning responded to Harvard’s move overnight on Twitter. “Honored to be 1st disinvited trans woman visiting Harvard fellow,” she [tweeted](https://twitter.com/xychelsea/status/908576331369238528), accusing the university of “chill\[ing\] marginalized voices under CIA pressure.” “Harvard says \[former White House Press Secretary\] Sean Spicer & \[onetime campaign manager for President Donald Trump\] Corey Lewandowski bring ‘something to the table and add something to the conversation’ and not me,” she added [in a follow-up tweet](https://twitter.com/xychelsea/status/908576602728157184). Harvard’s back-pedaling follows protests from high-profile figures in the U.S. intelligence community after Harvard made [the initial announcement](https://www.hks.harvard.edu/announcements/institute-politics-harvard-kennedy-school-announces-additional-visiting-fellows) Wednesday. CIA Director Mike Pompeo [canceled an appearance](http://time.com/4942882/mike-pompeo-cia-director-protests-chelsea-manning-harvard/) at the university Thursday at the last minute, while former CIA Acting Director Michael Morell resigned his position as a senior fellow at the school. According to _The Hill_, Manning [had been designated](http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/350459-chelsea-manning-headed-to-harvard-as-visiting-fellows) visiting fellow to Kennedy School alongside figures like Spicer and Lewandowski, as well as Robby Mook, Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign manager. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4943017/harvard-chelsea-manning-visiting-fellow/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4943017/harvard-chelsea-manning-visiting-fellow/"},"headline":"Harvard Says Chelsea Manning Can Still Visit, But Not as a Fellow","datePublished":"2017-09-15T06:22:51.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T03:39:02.000Z","description":"Harvard's back-pedalling follows protests from U.S. intelligence leaders","url":"https://time.com/4943017/harvard-chelsea-manning-visiting-fellow/","keywords":["Harvard","Education","intelligence","Chelsea Manning","colleges","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt479bed67aaf26f15/6988dde6e76ad22c8962f28b/gettyimages-694226476.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kevin Lui","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/kevin-lui/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt479bed67aaf26f15/6988dde6e76ad22c8962f28b/gettyimages-694226476.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Chelsea Manning 2017","caption":"Chelsea Manning 2017","creditText":"Heidi Gutman—ABC/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/harvard/","name":"Harvard"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4943017/harvard-chelsea-manning-visiting-fellow/","name":"Harvard Says Chelsea Manning Can Still Visit, But Not as a Fellow"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"What to Know About Chelsea Manning","description":"Chelsea Manning, an ex-Army soldier convicted of leaking a trove of secret U.S. documents, is set to be released from prison on May 17, about four months after former President Obama drastically shortened her sentence just before he left office.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/hFOpORd2/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-05-16T21:48:40.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/hFOpORd2.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4943017/harvard-chelsea-manning-visiting-fellow/","duration":"PT2M40S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4943017/harvard-chelsea-manning-visiting-fellow/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```