Col. Will Wright, Global Information Systems Program director at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., on Feb. 23, 2023. He was arraigned June 18, 2024, on charges that he behaved inappropriately with cadets and then intervened with an investigation into his behavior. (Christopher Hennen/Army)
A colonel who served as an academic program director and a chaperone for the West Point women’s tennis team faces charges that he made sexual comments to cadets, provided alcohol to one cadet and then asked the student to lie about it during an investigation, according to court records.
Col. William Wright, director of the Geospatial Information Science Program at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., is also accused of violating an order to stay away from the tennis team.
He pleaded not guilty to five charges Tuesday during his arraignment before military judge Lt. Col. Alan Nef at Fort Drum, N.Y., about 270 miles northwest of West Point, according to online court records. The charges include conduct unbecoming of an officer, failure to obey an order or regulation, soliciting someone else to commit an offense, wrongful interference with an adverse administrative proceeding and making a false statement.
The allegations against Wright, who graduated from West Point in 1999, begin in June 2023 and stretch until Feb. 2, according to his charge sheet.
He is accused of providing alcohol to a cadet and drinking with a student on “a personal social basis” on June 15, 2023, in Hilo, Hawaii, and again June 19, 2023, in Greely, Alaska. The name of the cadet is redacted from the charge sheet, and it is unclear whether it is the same cadet in both instances.
Wright would travel with cadets for research as part of his work at the Geospatial Information Science Program, according to his LinkedIn account. A photo of Wright with cadets on such a trip is displayed on the academy’s website describing the summer trips, which last for three weeks and have included visits to Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Washington and California.
Wright is also accused of making at least one sexual remark Jan. 20 to three cadets somewhere between West Point and Syracuse, N.Y., according to his charge sheet. On that day, the women’s tennis team played against Syracuse University, according to the team’s online schedule.
West Point said Tuesday that Wright was an “officer representative” for the women’s tennis team.
Wright is also accused of violating an order 10 days later to stay away from cadets on the women’s tennis team and attempting to interfere with an administrative proceeding. He asked a cadet, who is not named, to “kill this.” He also spoke that day to a cadet to ask her to lie about her alcohol consumption to an investigator and asked the same of a captain who was testifying as a witness to the incident.
Wright in February made his official statement to a colonel who was investigating the allegations. He is accused of lying twice — first about a cadet drinking alcohol in his presence and then about the discussion of a drinking game.
However, the charge sheet does not state when an order was issued for Wright to stay away from the cadets on the team.
Aimee Bateman, a civilian attorney representing Wright, declined to comment this week about the case. Wright requested a jury trial, but no additional court dates were listed Thursday.
This is Wright’s second time serving on the faculty for West Point. From 2008 to 2011, he served as an assistant professor in geospatial information science, according to his LinkedIn account. He then moved to Colorado to work for North American Aerospace Defense Command and later got his Ph.D. in geomatics from the University of Florida.
He returned to the academy in 2017. His wife, Allison Wright, worked for the West Point athletic department since 2019, most recently as the assistant athletics director for administration operations, according to a 2023 news release from the athletic department. She worked as the support staff for the women’s tennis team for the 2022-23 school year.
“West Point holds our staff and faculty to high standards. Upon allegations that our cadre have not upheld our standards, we promptly investigate to determine the facts, protect, and assist potential victims, and hold alleged violators accountable,” said Col. Terence Kelley, spokesman for the academy. “While federal privacy laws and Army policy restrict the release of additional details at this stage of the process, we are fully committed to a swift and just resolution.”
