If you’re a member of the Society of Black Engineers at West Point, you can probably forget about attending the national group’s annual conference next month. That’s because the United States Military Academy, one of five American service academies, that trains cadets for the U.S. Army is disbanding its Society of Black Engineers chapter as well as at least 11 other clubs, according to a recent internal memorandum that circulated online.
The memo, issued in accordance with President Donald Trump’s executive orders cracking down on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and offices across the federal government, instructs 12 specific clubs to immediately cease all formal and informal activities and remove public facing content. The move comes after the U.S. Army and Air Force shuttered their respective DEI offices and programs and removed related media and trainings on Jan. 23.
The disbanded clubs, all of which have had their webpages removed from the academy’s site, were listed under “affinity” groups on West Point’s club directory, which has also been removed as of publication. The pages, according to digital archives, were available online as recently as last week.
The list of banned student groups, all of which were open to all cadets irrespective of identity, includes the Asian-Pacific Forum Club, which “promotes the general knowledge and application of knowledge about the Asian-Pacific region”; the Contemporary Cultural Affairs Seminar Club, which supported cadets “transitioning from civilian to cadet and cadet to officer” through “academic services, mentorship, professional development opportunities, and community outreach programs”; the Corbin Forum, which aimed to promote women’s leadership within the Army; the Japanese Forum Club, which described itself as a place for promoting “understanding and…
