Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is joining Columbia University as a fellow, its international relations school announced Monday.
Pompeo, who served in the first administration of President Trump, will meet with students and contribute to ongoing policy work for one year at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs through the Institute of Global Politics — an appointment billed as promoting dialogue across the political spectrum.
“I am thrilled to join the Institute and to provide a unique voice defending traditional American values and the Founders’ vision for our great nation, alongside the necessity to support our allies across the world,” Pompeo said in a statement.
“I appreciate the commitment of the Institute to a broad spectrum of opinions and look forward to engaging with students and faculty around a central mission of the university: learning through investigation and the exchange of ideas,” the statement continued.
Pompeo’s fellowship was first announced in the Wall Street Journal, which reported he is expected to focus on diplomacy, decision-making and organizational leadership. He starts next month and will end next February.
His appointment comes as the Trump administration is taking steps to reverse what conservatives consider a leftward shift in higher education. Among his efforts are multiple executive orders and policy changes against DEI, transgender students and medical research that could threaten American colleges and universities federal funding.
Trump appears to have since soured on Pompeo, a former Kansas congressman who was director of the Central Intelligence Agency before his promotion — most recently, denying him a security detail.
Pompeo is the second secretary of state to join SIPA’s ranks in recent years, after Democrat presidential nominee Hillary Clinton began teaching at Columbia last school year. Her classroom became a target of high-profile and disruptive campus protests over the Israel-Hamas war, which have continued into this school year.
While Pompeo will not have a class of his own, he has repeatedly condemned Columbia protesters on social media as a “violent, pro-Hamas mob” — calling their arrests, in a word, “good.” During his tenure, the United States moved its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and mediated the Abraham Accords to normalize relations between Israel and the Emirates.
“Secretary Pompeo’s extensive experience in global affairs and policymaking will contribute to the rich exchange of ideas that defines our academic community,” Dean Keren Yarhi-Milo said in a statement.
“At SIPA, we are committed to fostering rigorous and open dialogue on critical issues in international affairs, and I look forward to the discussions and debates that his presence will inspire.”