Harvard Hires Convicted Intelligence Leaker Chelsea Manning as Visiting Fellow

Harvard University has announced they have hired convicted intelligence leaker Chelsea Manning as a visiting fellow at their Institute of Politics.

In an announcement of her hiring on the Harvard website, Manning is described as “a Washington D.C. based network security expert and former U.S. Army intelligence analyst.” Manning was sentenced to 35-years in prison for releasing over 700,000 confidential military and State Department documents. President Obama commuted her sentence, arguing that it was “disproportionate” with regards to the sentences of whistleblowers who had committed similar crimes.

After Obama commuted her sentence, Manning shifted her focus to queer and transgender rights activism. Manning, born Bradley Manning, made her first public appearance as a woman in 2012, adopting the first name Chelsea. Manning has continued to speak and write on topics relating to artificial intelligence.

“We welcome the breadth of thought-provoking viewpoints on race, gender, politics and the media,” Bill Delahunt, the Institute of Politics director said in a statement.

Former Press Secretary Sean Spicer and Hillary Clinton Campaign Manager Robby Mook will also take visiting fellow positions alongside Manning at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Their term as visiting fellows will carry throughout the 2017-2018 academic year.

“This expanded group of Visiting Fellows will be able to fulfill the Institute’s mission of engaging students in discourse on topical issues of today, including local politics with Mayor Sly James, election cybersecurity with Robby Mook, White House communications with Sean Spicer, and issues of LGBTQ identity in the military with Chelsea Manning. This unique opportunity to closely engage with our Visiting Fellows will surely shape the semester, and we hope many students will participate in the upcoming events and discussions,” added Emily Hall and Jason Ge, the co-chairs of the Institute of Politics Fellows and Study Groups Program.