West Point Caves to Trump's Culture Wars
The U.S. Military Academy West Point is disbanding 11 affinity groups as a result of Donald Trump's executive orders targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion.
In a memo Tuesday, the school announced that the Asian Pacific Forum Club, Japanese Forum Club, Korean-American Relations Seminar, Vietnamese-American Cadet Association, Native American Heritage Forum, and Latin Cultural Club were all disbanded and ordered to cease all activities immediately.
The National Society of Black Engineers, the Society for Hispanic Professional Engineers, and the Society of Women Engineers were also shut down.
The Corbin Forum, which 'empowers and promotes women's leadership within the Corps of Cadets and Army,' was disbanded, and its web page was removed from West Point's website. Spectrum, a group supporting LGBTQ+ cadets, was similarly ordered to shut down.
The memo also dissolved the Contemporary Cultural Affairs Seminar Club, which supported cadets who were 'transitioning from civilian to cadet and cadet to officer.'
The dispersal of these groups, meant to provide resources and community to cadets, many of whom are from marginalized backgrounds, was done 'in accordance with recent Presidential Executive Orders, Department of Defense guidance, and Department of the Army guidance,' according to the memo. No other rationale was provided for the action.
The U.S. Army and Air Force closed their respective DEI offices and programs in January. Last week, after Trump baselessly blamed the government's DEI practices for a deadly plane crash, federal employees at several agencies received instructions to remove their pronouns from their email signature.
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