The U.S. Military Academy at West Point has ordered 12 officially sanctioned clubs for women and ethnic or racial groups to shut down immediately, in a drive to comply with the Trump administration’s directives on diversity, equity and inclusion, the academy said on Wednesday.
In a memo dated Tuesday, the academy’s deputy commandant, Chad R. Foster, said that the clubs were being disbanded “in accordance with recent presidential executive orders, department of defense guidance and department of the Army guidance.”
The dozen clubs that are being disbanded right away include the Corbin Forum, a group to promote female leaders, founded in 1976 when women were first admitted to West Point; the Latin Cultural Club; the National Society of Black Engineers Club; the Vietnamese-American Cadet Association; Spectrum, for L.G.B.T.Q. cadets; and the Society of Women Engineers Club. The academy is also reviewing other groups on campus, the memo said.
All of the clubs named in the memo were ordered to “unpublish, deactivate, archive or otherwise remove all public-facing content.”
On Wednesday, the National Society of Black Engineers Club home page had an error message on it saying “Oops!” in large letters.
Drew Fitzsimmons, a West Point alumnus who founded the organization Spectrum while on campus in 2012, said he was “frustrated and disappointed with the decision.”
Mr. Fitzsimmons said the group held weekly meetings that built a camaraderie among the cadets and prepared them for leadership.
“Affinity groups like this provide a safe space for people of similar backgrounds,” said Mr. Fitzsimmons, who is currently the executive director of a nonprofit organization called Knights Out, which provides support for L.G.B.T.Q. service members and their families.
The memo said the directive canceled all trips, meetings, events and other activities associated with the clubs, which were no longer authorized to conduct informal activities using government time, resources or facilities.
Col. Terence Kelley, a spokesman for the academy, confirmed the closings in a statement released on Wednesday. “In accordance with recent guidance, the U.S. Military Academy is reviewing programs and activities affiliated with our former office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion,” the statement said. “The clubs disbanded yesterday were sponsored by that office.”
On his first day in office, President Trump signed an executive order to end diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives within the federal government and supported by federal funds, promising to “forge a society that is colorblind and merit-based.” Since then, federal agencies have put dozens of officials associated with D.E.I. programs on leave, including some who appeared to be distantly connected to diversity initiatives.
The order also called for the U.S. attorney general and the education department to issue guidance for institutions to comply with the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision ending race-based admissions in colleges and universities. That decision did not apply to West Point and the other military academies, which are now the focus of separate lawsuits challenging their use of affirmative action.
Stephanie Saul contributed reporting.
