The same man who now derides the phrase “diversity is our strength” once wrote a 45-page thesis at Harvard that advocated for precisely that.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, now an anti-DEI attack dog, wrote as a Harvard Master’s candidate in 2013 that closing racial achievement gaps was a “laudable goal” backed by “equality, diversity, and accessibility,” reports the Boston Globe.
That sort of language is what Hegseth has promised to rid the Pentagon of in 2025, telling top military brass in a speech on Sept. 30 that he will no longer tolerate “more identity months, DEI offices, dudes in dresses.”
Hegseth appeared to be much softer on DEI 12 years ago while pursuing his master’s in public policy, at least when it came to education.
“Ensuring low-income and minority children have the same opportunities as more affluent majority students is an essential goal and worth pursuing with vigor and substantial investment,” Hegseth wrote in his thesis, according to a copy obtained by the Globe. “Our country and state must strive for equal opportunity for all, regardless of race, class, geography, or gender.”
Hegseth was in his early 30s at that point, having already served in Afghanistan and Iraq with the Army National Guard. Prior to deploying, he studied politics at Princeton University and wrote for The Princeton Tory, a conservative student newspaper.
Hegseth stated in his 2013 thesis that he aimed to establish a top-notch STEM high school in his native Minnesota. He reportedly wrote that he intended to work with the since-assassinated state Rep. Melissa Hortman, a Democrat, who also championed the issue.
“Framed correctly, a STEM high school would complement—not compete with—existing efforts to promote women and minorities in STEM,” Hegseth wrote, according to the Harvard Crimson. “This STEM school would increase equal educational access for Minnesotans of all backgrounds.”
Hortman, who was executed by a MAGA-supporting constituent who posed as a cop at her home in June, was interviewed by Hegseth for his thesis and featured “prominently” in it, the Globe reported.
Hegseth wrote that his dream school would “ensure a balance of race, class, gender, and geography.” To achieve this, the Crimson reported that Hegseth advocated for “geographic quotas” administered across the state’s congressional districts.
Hegseth has been less inclined to work with Democrats lately—especially those who advocate for equity and diversity, especially in the military.
The defense secretary, who now prefers the moniker “War Secretary,” said in February that “the single dumbest phrase in military history is ‘our diversity is our strength.’”
Hegseth added in April that “we are committed to rooting out DEI,” and said in December, two months before he was narrowly confirmed to his position by a tiebreaking vote, that “DEI is dead at DOD.” More recently, he rolled out new military fitness standards on Tuesday, which he said will likely exclude women from specific combat roles.
“If that means no women qualify for some combat jobs, so be it,” Hegseth said of the new standards.
Phil Hanser, a former adviser to Hegseth, told the Globe that the future Fox News pundit—who denounced his Harvard affiliation in 2022—had displayed conservative leanings at the university but that “his anti-woke warrior ethos was not discernible.”
“I am a little surprised by the turn,” Hanser told the paper. “There was nothing that suggested to me, this is going to be the next anti-DEI person.”
Reached for comment, a spokesperson from the Pentagon said Hegseth’s pro-diversity stance in 2013 was a result of what he was assigned to write, and did not necessarily reflect his true views.
“The assignment was to write a paper from a bipartisan perspective, which is why the recommendations section at the end reflects bipartisan solutions,” chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in an email to the Daily Beast. “His views from 2013 are consistent with his views now as Secretary of War: meritocracy should reign supreme over woke ideology and DEI.”
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