MIT Seeks to Fortify Military Ties After Hegseth’s ‘Woke’ Charge

Leaders at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have a complex equation to solve: President Donald Trump.

Officials at the storied research university were caught off guard earlier this year when its longstanding partnership with the Pentagon became the latest focus of the White House effort to remake higher education.

Pete Hegseth

Photographer: Jeffrey Dean/Bloomberg

First, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth barred military officers from graduate programs at a group of top schools - including MIT - calling them “woke breeding grounds of toxic indoctrination.” Then, the administration sought to reduce federal funding for MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory, which develops technologies for the military and intelligence ...