Vincent Vu helped establish the Vietnamese-American Cadets Association at the US Military Academy in West Point in 2015 while he was a cadet. this week.
And the academy affinity group was not discriminatory, he said. Rather, they helped people like him assimilate into West Point's cadets and military ranks, making him a better officer.
“West Point was probably the first place I had a supportive environment for my identity and my identity,” said a former Air Defence Artillery Officer and now a sophomore at Wake Forest University. said Vu, a law student.
Affinity groups currently relating to race, ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation at West Point are currently under attack due to an executive order signed by President Trump on his first day in office.
The order called for an end to diversity, equity and inclusion policies in federal and federal funding projects as Trump promised to build a “color brand and merit-based” society. His administration was active against those who were perceived as facilitators of such policies.
To comply, the academy said Tuesday it was quickly disbanding 12 affinity groups, including those that would provide Vietnamese-American cadets and review others.
The move is in line with criticism, and on Thursday the academy suggested that at least some, if not all of them, may try to revive some of them.
Military historians often say that the military is ahead of the rest of society to promote racial equality, and removing the tool for what is called the present threatens its progress. We are paying attention to.
“When military demographics represent society's demographics, you'll have a much more effective military,” said Diane, a retired Army Colonel, who is now vice-dean of Tufts University. M. Ryan said. Dr. Ryan taught psychology at West Point and was an executive in charge of the Corbin Forum, a club that promotes women's leadership for many years.
The federal government has argued the same point in recent years, arguing that it would dodge legal challenges in the academy's consideration of race in admissions. The government said the system is necessary to recruit and build a diverse corps of officers that reflect the military they command.
The conservative majority of the Supreme Court ruled the argument was so persuasive that it removed the military academy's exception in its 2023 decision to remove admissions for positive lawsuits at universities around the country. . The decision said the academy could have “potentially clear benefits” when considering competition for applicants, leaving the question as determined by future lawsuits.
However, the landscape appears to have changed rapidly under the new administration.
Within 24 hours of Trump's appointment, Commander Linda L. Fagan, the US Coast Guard commander, was fired as the first female officer to lead a branch of the military. The list of reasons the administration gave her to fire claimed that she had a “over-focus” on diversity, equity and inclusion.
Trump ordered the end of all government DEI offices in an executive order in January, repeating the policies put in place by the Biden administration to prevent discrimination and promote diversity and equity within the government. . A few days after the order, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegses in a memo called “incompatible” with the Pentagon's values.
Hegseth has created a task force dedicated to eradicating the department's DEI office and “and overturning meritocracy, perpetuating unconstitutional discrimination, and extremist relations related to systemic racism and gender flux. Directed the traces of such offices that promote ideology.
In January, Hegses declared the identity month of “dead” and “black history month and women's history month” at the Department of Defense. He banned the use of official resources in the month of cultural consciousness. .
It was unclear whether other military academies disbanded the affinity group this week. After news came out about West Point's move to close the group, the academy scrambled to take damage control.
Chad Foster, the deputy West Point commander who signed the order, wrote in a social media post that the academy is working to continue operating by changing club charters and placing them in the academic division.
“Of course I enjoy being called the Nazis, and during this typical internet nutrition frenzy, there was a death threat,” he wrote, “a deliberate review and reestablishment of these organizations. You can rest assured that you have established a process for the possibilities.
The dozen clubs were chosen because they were directly affiliated with offices of diversity, equity and inclusion before closing last year, he said.
Many of the clubs held luncheons, lecture series and off-campus trips. The club focused on a variety of groups, but participation was open to all cadets, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, or sexuality. Men often make up about 20% of their audience due to Corbin Forum events, Dr. Ryan said.
Colonel Foster's memo dated February 4th said the club “disbanded here” and was not even permitted to continue informal activities using government time, resources and facilities. Ta.
Background information provided by the West Point communications office, in line with the Department of Defense guidance, said the Department of War would not use official resources for cultural compliance or awareness events. The cadet said he could still participate in such events with informal capabilities outside of work hours.
The official list of 12 banned clubs includes the Asia Pacific Forum Club, the Contemporary Culture Seminar Club, the Latin Culture Club and the National Black Engineers Association Club.
The academy said more than 100 clubs have made them available to cadets and religious programs and activities have not been affected.
Alex Molly, vice president of campus advocacy at the Free Speech Group for Individual Rights and Expression Foundation, said that her group monitors orders like West Point to personalize students' first amendments. He said he was checking whether he violated his right to express his views.
Molly Shannon, a 2016 West Point alumnus, said she found a mentor through the West Point branch of the Women's Engineers Association. Shannon said she was devastated when she saw it on the list to cut “because I know how important that community is to me.”
The Corbin Forum has also been closed. The group has historical resonance for female cadets as it was created with a female female appointed to West Point in 1976. Dr. Ryan was the group's executive from 2008 to 2017.
“The way this has been politicized is, “we can't do these things because we're split,” Dr. Ryan said. “And they argue that it's actually the opposite of division. We're not calling people. We're calling people.”
Dr. Ryan said he entered the army through a training squad of reserve officers in the early 1980s because he didn't know that a woman could go to West Point at that time. “So expression is important,” she said.
When it comes to West Point officials, they were somewhat apologetic. Colonel Foster said they “work hard to adjust things properly,” so cadets will have professional and personal opportunities.
“No one enjoys telling young people bad news. Trust me,” he wrote on LinkedIn.
Stephanie Saul Reports of contributions.
