The U.S. Military Academy in spring 2023. The academy has banned an assortment of “affinity organizations” ranging from the Asian-Pacific Forum Club to the Society of Women Engineers Club, according to a memorandum issued Feb. 4, 2025, by the university. (Facebook/West Point)
The U.S. Military Academy has banned organizations centered primarily on ethnic and gender affiliation as part of what it says is compliance with the effort to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs in government.
The move, outlined in a memorandum issued Tuesday by West Point, told 12 campus clubs to immediately shut down all activities, formal and informal.
Soon after being issued, the memo was posted on Reddit and circulated elsewhere on social media.
The academy wasn’t immediately available for comment. The Washington Post on Wednesday said it had verified the memo’s authenticity.
The West Point directive canceled all trips, meetings and activities associated with the designated clubs.
“Moreover, these clubs are not authorized to continue informal activities using Government time, resources, or facilities,” the directive stated.
The decision comes amid a Pentagon push to strip away activities and events unrelated to fostering what it deems to be warfighting readiness.
On Friday, the Pentagon also announced that it was ending identity month celebrations, such as Black History Month in February.
“Our unity and purpose are instrumental to meeting the Department’s warfighting mission. Efforts to divide the force — to put one group ahead of another — erode camaraderie and threaten mission execution,” the Pentagon said in a statement announcing the decision.
The clubs disbanded by the academy are the Asian-Pacific Forum Club; Contemporary Cultural Affairs Seminar Club; Corbin Forum, a group for female cadets founded in 1976; 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; the Vietnamese-American Cadet Association; and Spectrum, which served LGBTQ cadets.
The web pages for several of the disbanded clubs displayed error messages Wednesday.
The memo also calls on the Directorate of Cadet Activities to review all other extracurricular and social clubs to make sure they comply with presidential executive orders and Pentagon policy.
