Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger hit back at Secretary of War Pete Hegseth after the Pentagon announced it would cut ties and funding relationships with numerous collegiate institutions over what it described as woke ideologies.

A Pentagon leadership memo initialed “PBH” — the secretary’s full name is Peter Brian Hegseth — sent just before the U.S. bombed Iran and entitled “Aligning senior service college opportunities with American values,” laid out an examination of standing “Professional Military Education institutions, [the] bedrock upon which we build lethal warfighters grounded in the founding principles that underpin American

Spanberger fired back after it was reported that the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va., would be affected. The Norfolk Virginian-Pilot covered her remarks at a high school in Hampton — about halfway between the two cities.

Spanberger said the move is an “outrageous attack at yet another point of pride in Virginia,” as the memo said the Senior Service College programs there would be ended and that servicemembers would lose support.

 “The idea that the Pentagon would pull back from this fellowship program that has been long a fixture at William & Mary is just outrageous,” she said, according to the paper.

The Pentagon memo said the department will “no longer invest in institutions that fail to sharpen our leaders’ warfighting capabilities or that undermine the very values they swore to defend,” and that more than a dozen schools faced termination.

VIRGINIA DEMOCRATS BLASTED FOR THREATENING HISTORIC MILITARY COLLEGE VMI WITH FUNDING THREAT OVER DEI CONCERNS

Spanberger, who formerly worked for the CIA, said the move speaks to the Defense Department’s “lack of understanding of the real strength of universities, whether it’s William & Mary or others, in educating the next generation of military leadership,” according to the paper.

She also cited the fact William & Mary’s current chancellor is himself one of Hegseth’s predecessors.

Robert Gates was former President George H.W. Bush’s director of central intelligence and later served as Secretary of Defense under President George W. Bush, remaining in the role into former President Barack Obama’s term.

DAVID MARCUS: ONLY HEGSETH CAN SAVE STORIED VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE FROM WOKE STATE LAWMAKERS

Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger has ended agreements between state law enforcement agencies and federal immigration authorities.  (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Fox News Digital reached out to the Pentagon for comment.

In a statement obtained by Hampton Roads’ CBS affiliate, the college administration said it was “puzzled and saddened” by Hegseth’s move, saying that William & Mary is “among the country’s most military-friendly institutions” and also embraces its ROTC program.

While the Williamsburg school may be on the chopping block, the affiliate reported that Regent University in Virginia Beach — founded by Christian evangelist Pat Robertson — may be considered one of the replacement institutions.

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In the memo, Harvard, Washington University in St. Louis, MIT, Tufts, Georgetown, George Washington University, Princeton, Yale, Brown and Queen’s University in Canada were listed as schools facing separation.

Colleges being considered as replacements include Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., The Citadel, Virginia Tech, the University of North Carolina, Clemson University and Hillsdale College in Michigan.

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President Donald Trump hosted a college sports roundtable Friday to examine solutions to key challenges, including NCAA authority; name, image and likeness (NIL) issues; collective bargaining; and governance concerns. 

Athletic officials in attendance included NCAA President Charlie Baker, former Alabama head football coach Nick Saban, OutKick founder Clay Travis, New York Yankees President Randy Levine and each of the Power Four commissioners, among others.

“This is the future, I think, beyond college sports. This is the future of colleges,” Trump said to kick off the roundtable. “The amount of money being spent and lost by otherwise very successful schools is astounding just in a short period of time. It’s only going to get worse. We have to save college sports, and, I believe, colleges.

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President Donald Trump speaks during a roundtable discussion on college sports in the East Room of the White House in Washington, District of Columbia, on March 6, 2026. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo)

“Crazy things are happening. … We have a seven-year freshman. We’re seeing things we’ve never seen before. College players not wanting to go pro because they make more money in college,” he added.

Trump said there has been an “inability to set rules,” noting that different states have different NIL laws, prompting another challenge for college sports.

“If Congress doesn’t take action fast, it could destroy college sports,” Trump said.

Trump ripped “one judge who knew nothing about sports, knew nothing about football, knew nothing about Olympics, knew nothing about anything, just decided everything was unconstitutional.” 

He was likely referring to Judge Claudia Wilken, who ruled in 2019 that the NCAA’s limits on education-related benefits violated antitrust law.

“It’s crazy. Only Congress can deliver a permanent fix,” Trump said.

Trump noted he was not aiming to revert to athletes not being paid.

“Although, not the worst idea,” he admitted. “But I think a lot of people would overrule me on that.”

Later on, Trump said he wanted to “just go back to what you had, let some judge tell you can’t do it, you appeal, and you win at some point. Because what you had — what a great system. Everybody was happy.”

Saban said helping athletes become more successful on a personal level has become “impossible” in today’s era.

“People, instead of making decisions about creating value for their future, they were making decisions about how much money could they make at whichever school they can go to or transfer to,” Saban said. 

“I think we need to come up with a system, and, obviously, we have to do it with the president’s leadership and also with Congress probably … to allow student-athletes in all sports to enhance their quality of life while going to college but still provide opportunity to advance themselves beyond their athletic career, which is what the philosophy of college athletes and getting a college education has always been about.”

Former Alabama head coach Nick Saban is seen before a roundtable discussion about college sports in the East Room of the White House in Washington, District of Columbia, on March 6, 2026. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo)

Trump has been adamant about “saving college sports,” even signing an executive order setting new restrictions on payments to college athletes in July.

The president’s order prohibits athletes from receiving pay-to-play payments from third-party sources. However, the order did not impose any restrictions on NIL payments to college athletes by third-party sources. It also demands that schools account for preserving resources for the non-revenue sports. 

The SCORE Act was at the forefront of the roundtable. It was scheduled to be voted on in December but the vote was canceled shortly before. The White House endorsed the act, but three Republicans — Byron Donalds of Florida, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania and Chip Roy of Texas — voted with Democrats not to bring the act to the floor. Democrats have largely opposed the bill, urging members of the House to vote against it.

The SCORE Act would give the NCAA a limited antitrust exemption in hopes of protecting the NCAA from potential lawsuits over eligibility rules and would prohibit athletes from becoming employees of their schools. It prohibits schools from using student fees to fund NIL payments.

President Donald Trump greets House Speaker Mike Johnson, left, as he arrives at a roundtable discussion on college sports in the East Room of the White House in Washington, District of Columbia, on March 6, 2026. (Julia Demaree Nikhinson/AP Photo)

Rep. Lori Trahan, D-Mass., said the act “hurts” women’s sports, and strengthening Title IX “has to be part of the SCORE Act.” She also said the SCORE Act “represented a consolidation of what we have today, which is the SEC and the Big Ten” getting a boatload of the money college athletics garners.

Trahan did concur that “maybe the SCORE Act is the right vehicle we continue to tweak,” showing some confidence in it and expressing her desire to work with those at the roundtable to make it successful. U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., said that women’s sports would be “protected,” while Jim Phillips, the ACC commissioner, said 56% of the ACC’s athletic scholarships have gone to women since the House case.

Tim Pernetti, commissioner of the American Conference, said the SCORE Act doesn’t fix college athletics’ “economic crisis.” Meyer admitted he did not like how collectives were still included in the SCORE Act, calling it “cheating.”

“I think if the collective goes away, college sports gets better immediately,” Meyer said.

After deliberations, Trump said he’d write an executive order “based on great common sense.”

“It’s gonna let colleges survive and players survive and let a lot of people be very, very happy,” Trump said.

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a roundtable discussion on college sports in the East Room of the White House on March 6, 2026, in Washington, D.C. The Trump administration held the roundtable titled “Saving College Sports” with leaders from the Power Four conferences, media executives and former coaches. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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A month before Trump’s order, Wilken approved a settlement between the NCAA, its most powerful conferences and lawyers representing all Division I athletes. The deal means the NCAA will pay close to $2.8 billion in back damages over the next 10 years to college athletes who competed from 2016 to 2025. The settlement also allows for college programs to pay athletes directly.

Fox News’ Jackson Thompson contributed to this report.

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Sherrone Moore, who was fired as Michigan’s head football coach in December, pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors in a deal to resolve a felony criminal case. 

Moore was facing charges of stalking, breaking and entering and home invasion of the home of his executive assistant, with whom he allegedly had an extramarital affair. 

Authorities said Moore had confronted the alleged mistress and blamed her for his dismissal, even threatening to kill himself with butter knives in her apartment. 

The case was resolved after Friday’s plea deal. 

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Kelli Moore, left, walks with her husband, former University of Michigan football coach Sherrone Moore, and his attorney Ellen Michaels at the 14A-1 District Court in Ann Arbor Friday, March 6, 2026. (Mandi Wright/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)

The deal was struck the same day a judge planned to hear a challenge to Moore’s arrest in December on three charges, including felony home invasion. Those previous charges were dropped in exchange for Moore pleading no contest to misdemeanor trespassing and misdemeanor malicious use of a telecommunications device.

His sentencing is scheduled for April 14 for charges that have a potential maximum of six months and 30 days in prison.

“All the charges against Mr. Moore were not supported by facts and law,” said attorney Ellen Michaels, standing alongside Moore and his wife outside the courtroom. “The dismissal of those charges validates the concerns we raised about the investigation from the very beginning. Mr. Moore is pleased to put this behind him and move forward.

“It’s not stalking if the communication has a legitimate purpose.”

Moore declined comment to reporters after the hearing. 

“No, I’m good,” he said. “Appreciate it.”

Sherrone Moore during warmups before a game against the Ohio State Buckeyes at Michigan Stadium Nov. 29, 2025, in Ann Arbor, Mich. (Luke Hales/Getty Images)

Moore, 40, was fired Dec. 10 after two seasons as the successor to Jim Harbaugh, who won a national championship before leaving to lead the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers.

In dismissing Moore, the university cited his inappropriate relationship with a staff member. Assistant prosecutor Kati Rezmierski said the woman ended the affair a few days before Moore’s firing and cooperated with the school’s investigation.

Michaels declined to say if she was involved in potential litigation against the university on Moore’s behalf. He signed a five-year contract with a base annual salary of $5.5 million last year. According to the terms of his deal, the university did not have to buy out the remaining years of his contract because he was fired for cause.

Michigan also did not renew the contract of the female football staffer who was suspected to have been in a relationship with Moore.

A university spokesperson confirmed the departure to Fox News Digital.

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Former University of Michigan head football coach Sherrone Moore, left, is sworn in with his attorney Ellen Michaelsat before he accepts a plea deal before Judge J. Cedric Simpson at the 14A-1 District Court in Ann Arbor Friday, March 6, 2026. (Mandi Wright/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)

“Her contract expired and was not renewed,” the spokesperson said.

The staffer, whose LinkedIn profile listed her as an executive assistant to the head football coach at the University of Michigan, earned just over $58,000 in 2023 and 2024, according to public payroll information. In the 2025 fiscal year, though, her salary jumped to $99,000, according to a salary disclosure report from the University of Michigan.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Hello! Today is 7th March. Through this news we will tell you what is going to happen in the country and the world today? Let us know…

today’s news – Photo: Amar Ujala Graphics

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Today is March 7, 2026, Chaturthi of Krishna Paksha. Saturday is the second day of President Draupadi Murmu’s visit to West Bengal. At the same time, the trailer of ‘Dhurandhar 2’ will also be released today.

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