Chelsea Manning said she views Harvard University’s decision to revoke her invitation to serve as a visiting fellow as much of an honor as receiving the position itself.
“I’m not ashamed of being disinvited,” Manning told an audience at a conference for The Nantucket Project on Sunday. “I view that just as much of an honored distinction as the fellowship itself.”
Manning was named a visiting fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics last week. But current and former intelligence officials objected to Harvard’s decision to add Manning to its visiting fellows program.
Former CIA Deputy Director Michael Morell resigned as a senior fellow at the university after Manning was named, and CIA Director Michael Pompeo rejected an invitation to speak at a Harvard University forum.
After the blowback, Harvard withdrew Manning’s invitation to serve as a visiting fellow, and Harvard Kennedy School Dean Douglas Elmendorf said offering the position to her was “a mistake.”
Manning told the crowd at the Nantucket Conference on Sunday Harvard’s revocation indicated to her the Ivy League university is a “police state,” according to the Associated Press.
A former Army private, Manning leaked thousands of classified documents to WikiLeaks. She was convicted in 2013 for violating the Espionage Act, but former President Barack Obama commuted Manning’s sentence. She was freed in May.
