SARATOGA, N.Y., – Today, House Republican Leadership Chairwoman Elise Stefanik released a letter to the Board of Trustees of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation urging immediate action to address troubling patterns of political imbalance in the Foundation’s scholarship award process. The Congresswoman also called for the rescission of a 2025 scholarship to a pro-Hamas, antisemitic recipient.
The request follows recent data-driven analyses that suggest a systemic underrepresentation of students with conservative values among Truman Scholarship recipients.
The letter urges the Board to proactively initiate a comprehensive review of its current recruitment, nomination, and selection practices.
“As a recently appointed Board member of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation, I call on my fellow Board members to uphold the integrity and nonpartisan mission the Truman Foundation was founded on,” said Chairwoman Stefanik. “The Truman Scholarship was created to support future public service leaders, yet the data reveals a disturbing ideological litmus test that effectively sidelines talented students who hold mainstream conservative values.”
"I strongly urge the Truman Foundation to rescind the 2025 scholarship of a pro-Hamas, antisemitic recipient. This recipient does not embody the core values of the Truman Foundation, and the selection reflects poorly on the institution and deeply undermines its credibility. As an organization funded by taxpayers and tasked with promoting the common good, the Truman Foundation must ensure that its honorees represent the highest ideals of public service, integrity, and American values," added Chairwoman Stefanik.
A joint investigation by The College Fix and the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) uncovered that liberal-leaning scholars have outnumbered conservatives by a staggering ratio of more than 10:1 between 2021 and 2023.
According to AEI, of the 182 recipients awarded since 2015, only six expressed any interest in causes generally aligned with right-of-center principles—and even those appeared to identify as moderates or independents. None of these recipients indicated support for former President Donald J. Trump or conservative priorities such as defending the Second Amendment, advancing pro-life policies, or protecting religious liberty.
By contrast, the Truman Foundation has granted scholarships to at least 74 recipients explicitly committed to left-leaning causes, including “climate change,” “racial justice and DEI,” “LGBTQ+ issues,” and “immigration rights.”
Equally disturbing are accounts that 2025 Truman Scholar Eva Frazier publicly espoused support for Hamas, a U.S. designated foreign terrorist organization, a position not only inconsistent with the values of public service and moral clarity but also deeply offensive to many Americans and members of the Jewish community.
Most notably, this recipient was a leader of a student organization that undersigned a joint letter to Harvard saying Israel was “entirely responsible” for the attack by Hamas-terrorists that slaughtered over 1,200 innocent people and kidnapped over 250. There is zero explanation for this besides pure antisemitic hatred.
Stefanik’s request follows a similar letter sent last year by then-Education and Workforce Committee Chairwoman Dr. Virginia Foxx, whose concerns were inadequately addressed by the Foundation’s leadership.
Read the letter here.
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