Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) sent a letter on Wednesday to the board of trustees of the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation, calling for it to address political bias in the foundation’s scholarship award process.
In a statement on Thursday, Stefanik urged the board members to uphold the “integrity and nonpartisan mission the Truman Foundation was founded on.”
“The Truman Scholarship was created to support future public service leaders,” she stated. “Yet the data reveals a disturbing ideological litmus test that effectively sidelines talented students who hold mainstream conservative values.”
In her letter, Stefanik cited recent studies by The College Fix and the American Enterprise Institute that suggest a pattern of political bias in the selection of Truman Scholars.
“The data suggests a partisan balance—with recipients favoring progressive causes over conservative ones by a ratio of more than 10 to 1 between 2021 and 2023,” the letter states.
Stefanik also called for the Truman Foundation to rescind the scholarship awarded to Eva Frazier, a 2025 Truman Scholar recipient, who publicly supported Hamas in 2023 as a leader of the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Community at the Ivy League school.
Frazier signed a joint letter stating that Israel was “entirely responsible” for the Hamas-led terror attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that saw more than 1,200 people murdered and more than 250 kidnapped, according to Stefanik.
“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,” she stated. “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.”
