The U.S. Military Academy at West Point has shut down more than a dozen extracurricular clubs that emphasized race and gender amid the Trump administration’s pushback against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, NBC News reported, Wednesday.
Col. Chad Foster, West Point's deputy commandant, issued the directive Tuesday, ordering the immediate dissolution of groups such as the Society of Women Engineers and the Korean-American Relations Seminar, according to an internal memo reviewed by the outlet. "These clubs are not authorized to continue informal activities using government time, resources or facilities," Foster wrote in the memo, which not only eliminates the clubs but also forbids them from congregating on campus.
The directive "cancels all sections, meetings, events, and other activities associated with these clubs Moreover, these clubs are no authorized to continue informal activities using Government time, resource, or facilities.”
Other clubs disbanded following the directive include, the Latin Cultural Club, the National Society of Black Engineers (West Point Chapter) and the Japanese Forum Club.
The move by West Point comes a week after Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth declared ‘Identify Months Dead at DoD” in memo that stated, “Going forward, DoD Components and Military Departments will not use official resources, to include man-hours, to host celebrations or events related to cultural awareness months,” and gave the examples of Pride Month and National Hispanic Heritage Month as two events that the military would no longer recognize.
The Pentagon under Hegseth has been pushing for a reset after years of adopting “woke” policies. In June, the service academy came under sharp criticism for removing the long-held motto "Duty, Honor, Country" from its mission statement and replacing it with the a revised statement that reads, "To build, educate, train, and inspire the Corps of Cadets to be commissioned leaders of character committed to the Army Values and ready for a lifetime of service to the Army and Nation."