The U.S. Military Academy at West Point has axed at least a dozen extracurricular clubs geared toward women and minority students amid an ongoing audit aimed at aligning with the Trump administration's crackdown on diversity programs in federal institutions.
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 Military.com. Some clubs are funded through private donations.
"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.
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The move follows a sweeping mandate by President Donald Trump to dismantle diversity-related initiatives across the federal government, which the military has widely interpreted as any program or policy that recognizes women and troops with minority backgrounds as well as gay, lesbian and transgender service members.
“In accordance with recent guidance, the U.S. Military Academy is reviewing programs and activities affiliated with our former office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion,” Col. Terence Kelley, a spokesperson for the school, said in a statement. “The clubs disbanded yesterday were sponsored by that office.”
The school’s DEI office was disbanded last summer.
Here are the clubs banned from West Point:
- Asian-Pacific Forum Club
- Contemporary Cultural Affairs Seminar Club
- Corbin Forum
- Japanese Forum Club
- Korean-American Relations Seminar
- Latin Cultural Club
- Native American Heritage Forum
- National Society of Black Engineers (West Point chapter)
- Society for Hispanic Professional Engineers (West Point chapter)
- Society of Women Engineers (West Point chapter)
- Spectrum
- Vietnamese-American Cadet Association
Other culture-related programs are still authorized, including a dozen religious clubs, almost all of which are Christian.
The move comes as West Point published a podcast Wednesday in which Brig. Gen. Shane Reeves, the current dean, interviewed Elon Musk, the world's richest man who Trump has allowed access to the federal government's most sensitive data as part of a potentially illegal effort to slash operations and spending. The show was recorded in August.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced last week that months celebrating different cultures were "dead" within the military and it would no longer recognize Black History Month, Women's History Month, Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Pride Month, National Hispanic Heritage Month, National Disability Employment Awareness Month and National American Indian Heritage Month.
"Efforts to divide the force -- to put one group ahead of another -- erode camaraderie and threaten mission execution," Hegseth's guidance said.
The Trump administration has spent much of the early part of its tenure scrubbing any mention of diversity from the Pentagon, military services and the entire federal government.
Republican lawmakers and pundits have for years hammered the military, saying its promotion of diversity was detrimental, while the services largely saw the promotion of diversity as a necessity in an increasingly diverse recruiting pool and nation.
In practice, diversity efforts are relatively scant in the military.
During his confirmation hearing, Hegseth falsely claimed the military has quotas for filling the ranks or that it promotes with certain genders or groups in mind -- policies that are nonexistent.
Hegseth last week also announced a new task force to abolish diversity programs across the Pentagon, though it's unclear who will be on the panel or how they plan to audit various initiatives.
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