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West Point Military Academy is getting rid of clubs identifying with gender, race and ethnicity in the wake of President Donald Trump’s anti-DEI executive order.
A memo authored by Deputy Commandant Chad Foster dated February 4 announced the following groups would no longer be allowed to operate at the school: Asian-Pacific Forum Club, Contemporary Cultural Affairs Seminar Club, Corbin Forum, Japanese Forum Club, Korean-American Relations Seminar, Latin Cultural Club, National Society of Black Engineers, Native American Heritage Forum, Society for Hispanic Professional Engineers, Society of Women Engineers Club, Spectrum and the Vietnamese-American Cadet Association.
Several cadets on social media noted that individuals did not need to identify with the clubs’ race, ethnicity or gender association to become members.
The groups were directed to cease operations immediately. The memo’s author said the academy was implementing the changes in accordance with recent presidential executive orders, Department of Defense and Department of the Army guidance.
Moreover, the clubs are not permitted to gather informally using government time, resources or facilities, the memo noted, adding groups should “unpublish, deactivate, archive or otherwise remove all public facing content.”
The academy has more than 100 clubs and sports teams. Academy higher-ups are instructing the Directorate of Cadet Activities, which manages the clubs, to review and revalidate all other organizations not on the list to ensure they align with applicable presidential orders.
In a written statement, a spokesperson for West Point said the disbanded clubs were affiliated with the academy’s former office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
“Our leadership will continue to provide opportunities for cadets to pursue their academic, military, and physical fitness interests while following Army policy, directives, and guidance,” the statement concluded.
The military academy is one of five across the country. The others are: US Naval Academy, Air Force Academy, Coast Guard Academy and Merchant Marine Academy. It was not immediately clear if the other institutions are taking similar actions. The Independent has emailed the institutions for comment.
On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order titled: “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing.”
The order authorized the termination of all programs promoting diversity, equity and inclusion within the federal government, in addition to promoting the elimination of race-based and sex-based mandates, policies, programs, activities and preferences within the military and Department of Defense.
In a memo authored by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth January 29, he said a foundational tenet of his department must be that individuals are placed in positions of leadership based on merit and color-blind policies.
“Diversity, equity, and inclusion policies… are incompatible with the values of the Department of Defense,” Hegseth wrote, simultaneously announcing the creation of a task force charged with overseeing the Department’s efforts to abolish DEI offices.
West Point has just over 4,000 enrolled cadets. About 36 percent of the institution’s population identified with a racial or ethnic minority group in 2021.
Last year, the incoming 2028 class included 445 minorities, 280 women and 16 international students, out of a total of 1,246 enrollees.
Source: independent.co.uk
