Tim Walz’s daughter sparks backlash after revealing entitled reason she’s turning down graduate school offer

Tim Walz’s daughter has turned down a graduate school offer because she does not want to ‘give her money’ to an institution which won’t support students’ right to protest.

Hope Walz, whose Democrat father would have been vice president if Kamala Harris won the election, will instead ‘take her time’ over the next year to find a school which better aligns with her values.

She said as a ‘privileged white woman’, the repercussions of protesting on campus wouldn’t necessarily impact her personally, but that she didn’t want to give money to an institution that wouldn’t also protect her peers.

Protesting on campus has become a flashpoint of the Trump administration, after the president signed an executive order describing pro-Palestine activism which swept campuses last year acts of antisemitism.

He threatened to cut federal funding to schools which ‘allow illegal protests’ and vowed to imprison ‘agitators’ or send them back ‘to the country which they came from.’

American students who could not be deported faced expulsion and arrest, Trump said, while simultaneously banning masks which shield a protester’s identity.

Her comments sparked outrage among critics who said she was acting ‘performatively’ and ‘setting feminism back 50 years.’ 

‘White women privilege is getting into college but having such rich parents you can decide to not go.. how noble and brave,’ another critic said. 

Tim Walz’s daughter has turned down a graduate school offer because she does not want to ‘give her money’ to an institution which won’t support students’ right to protest

Hope shared her ‘life update’ on her TikTok account, telling her followers: ‘I got into grad school. I will not be attending starting this fall though, and I will no longer be attending the university that I originally applied for.

‘I applied for one school. I kind of had my heart set on one school and that’s what I wanted to do. 

‘I’m not going to name the institution but after recent events I decided I am not going to give my money, go into debt for, support institutions that don’t support their students and the right to protest and speak out for their communities.

‘Students deserve to be protected. I’m not worried about if I were to be protected or not at said institution, I’m a privileged white woman, but I’m not going to put myself in a position where I’m giving money or supporting institutions that don’t support their students.’

While Hope did not name the school, several Ivy League institutions have been in the spotlight over protesting. 

Columbia University agreed last week to put its Middle East studies department under new supervision and overhaul its rules for protests and student discipline, in a move seen as bowing down to to an extraordinary ultimatum by the Trump administration.

As part of the sweeping reforms, the university will also adopt a new definition of antisemitism and expand ‘intellectual diversity’ by staffing up its Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies, according to a letter published Friday by the interim president, Katrina Armstrong.

The announcement drew immediate condemnation from some faculty and free speech groups, who accused the university of caving to President Donald Trump’s largely unprecedented intrusion upon the school’s academic freedom.

While Hope did not name the school, several Ivy League institutions have been in the spotlight over protesting

‘Columbia’s capitulation endangers academic freedom and campus expression nationwide,’ Donna Lieberman, the executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said in a statement.

Earlier this month, the Trump administration pulled $400 million in research grants and other funding over the university’s handling of protests against Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. 

As a precondition to restoring those funds – along with billions more in future grants – federal officials last week demanded the university immediately enact nine separate reforms to its academic and security policies.

On March 8, federal immigration officials arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a prominent Palestinian activist and permanent resident in his university-owned apartment building.

He vowed it would be the ‘first of many’ attempted deportations. The case is ongoing. 

While Trump has made Columbia the most visible target of his crackdown on higher education, he has put other universities on notice that they will face cuts if they do not embrace his agenda.

His administration has announced investigations into 52 universities for their diversity, equity and inclusion programs. And it has suspended approximately $175 million in federal funding for the University of Pennsylvania over a transgender swimmer who last competed for the school in 2022.

And in the comment section of Hope’s video, she was inundated with current and former students who said their schools’ stances ‘broke their hearts.’ 

Police look on during pro-Palestinian demonstrations at The City College Of New York

Pro-Palestinian supporters confront police during demonstrations at The City College Of New York

‘It’s sad when these institutions don’t support their communities,’ one former student at John Hopkins said.

‘University of Michigan broke my heart,’ another added.

Hope said her criticism of the school she had been accepted into ‘has nothing to do with students that currently go there, a lot of the faculty.’

‘But the people at the top are making these decisions and I decided that I’m not going to do that. 

‘I’m going to do a little bit more research going forward, making sure I’m going to schools that align with my values and then maybe start in a year, which is okay. I’m not really in a rush.’

But critics questioned whether she truly was accepted to her ‘dream school’, saying she could have been creating an elaborate excuse when in reality she simply didn’t get in.

‘She didn’t get in lol. I wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t even apply to one… it’s all theatrics,’ one critic said.

Another added: ‘In other words, I don’t want to go to grad school, but I can pose as a social Justice warrior and then get hired by dad’s buddies think tank.’