Humphreys High School students demonstrate against new rules eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at their school in South Korea, April 10, 2025. Students at Humphreys were not issued detentions for joining in a global walkout, but some Defense Department school students elsewhere received them. (Fiona Yang)
PYEONGTAEK, South Korea — At least two Department of Defense Education Activity schools gave detentions to students who joined a recent coordinated walkout over efforts to scale back diversity, equity and inclusion programs, according to school communications and student accounts.
The 35 students who participated in the walkout at Lakenheath High School in England last week were given one lunch detention, said Payton, a sophomore at the school and one of the organizers of the April 10 multi-school walkout.
The detentions were spread out over three days. But Payton said Tuesday that students plan to all go together each of the days this week “to show support for wrongful detentions.”
Students who spoke to Stars and Stripes about the detentions asked to go by their first name or requested anonymity to protect themselves or family members from potential retribution.
Other walkout organizers, who had previously spoken with their parents’ permission, did not respond to requests for comment this week.
The students were speaking out against White House and Pentagon orders that have spurred the removal of books and curriculum from DODEA schools, ended activities and themed programs such as Black History Month, and canceled or reorganized clubs centered on gender or cultural affiliation.
The White House has argued that the school material and organizations in question sowed division and promoted discrimination, which hundreds of students disputed last week at walkouts around the world.
Students at Vilseck High School, on a U.S. Army base in Germany, were told they must serve detention for walking out of class, according to an administration email sent Friday. Stars and Stripes obtained a screenshot of the message.
In South Korea, Humphreys High School principal Amanda Schwerdt-Johnson did not issue detentions following the 40-minute lunchtime walkout on Thursday, two students said via email.
Some schools issued disciplinary actions because the “cumulative disruption to the DoDEA school system negatively impacted classroom instruction and pulled resources away from normal school operations to ensure student safety,” DODEA-Pacific spokeswoman Miranda Ferguson said in an email Tuesday.
Ferguson declined to identify which schools issued detentions or how many students were affected.
Many of the demonstrations took place during lunch periods, though some students only briefly walked out of class.
Before Thursday’s walkout, DODEA announced that students could receive unexcused absences for missed classes, though such absences do not automatically mean getting a detention under school rules.
“DoDEA reminded all students in advance that a failure to be present in their scheduled class or activity during the school day would be handled the same as any other unexcused absence, in accordance with existing DoDEA attendance and student discipline policies,” Ferguson said.
At Vilseck High, principal Quintin Davis informed students who walked out that they would serve detention during lunch on April 17.
“As outlined in our regional guidance, any time missed from the instructional day must be made up,” he wrote.
At Netzaberg Middle School in Germany, some parents and students said administrators initiated an unannounced lockdown drill Thursday in an effort to stop a planned demonstration. School officials confirmed the drill occurred but disputed that it was intended to interrupt the walkout.
Stars and Stripes reporter Jennifer H. Svan contributed to this report from Kaiserslautern, Germany.
