Michelle Obama is received by students in London before a Let Girls Learn event, June 16, 2015.
Jeff J Mitchell
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The Trump administration is ending the Let Girls Learn program, an education initiative created by Michelle Obama, CNN reports. Employees have been told that the program will be discontinued and have been instructed to stop the use of the name Let Girls Learn, according to an internal document acquired by CNN.
The Let Girls Learn program, started by Michelle and Barack Obama in 2015 and run largely through the Peace Corps and the United States Agency for International Development, aimed to provide educational opportunities to girls in developing countries. In October 2016, the Obama administration announced $5 million in private sector funding towards the program, contributing to a total of $1 billion for programs in 50 different countries. News that the program would be discontinued came on the same day that agriculture secretary Sonny Perdue visited a Virginia elementary school to roll back healthy school lunch standards, a primary focus for Obama during her time as First Lady.
In an essay for The FADER's America Issue, Michelle Obama wrote about the importance of attending college and her own educational path: "I know from my own life experience that higher education can lead you to opportunities you can’t even begin to imagine for yourself right now."