The United States Military Academy has disbanded 12 student organizations, including the Asian-Pacific Forum Club, following President Donald Trump’s executive order to cease diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives across the federal government.
Col. Chad R. Foster, the deputy commandant of West Point, wrote in a Tuesday memo obtained by AsAmNews that the academy would make changes “in accordance with recent Presidential Executive Orders, Department of Defense Guidance, and Department of the Army Guidance.”
The memo also listed organizations disbanded effectively immediately: Japanese Forum Club, Korean American Relations Seminar and Vietnamese American Cadet Association. These organizations aimed to promote awareness and appreciation of AAPI cultures in one way or another.
Other clubs on the list include the Latin Cultural Club, National Society of Black Engineers Club, Native American Heritage Forum and the Society of Women Engineers Club.
“This directive cancels all trip sections, meetings, events, and other activities associated with these clubs,” Foster’s memo said. “Moreover, these clubs are not authorized to continue informal activities using Government time, resource, or facilities.”
The disbanded clubs have been removed from the academy’s club directory with all webpages taken down. The disbanded clubs’ public content will either be unpublished, deactivated, archived or removed all together, according to the memo.
But the webpages were accessible as recently as last week, TIME reported.
Certain clubs were not singled out for disbandment like the West Point Polish Club and the German Language Club. Though the memo said all organizations are to suspend operations pending review and revalidation by the academy to ensure they are in accordance with federal guidelines.
The disbandment follows a trend of DEI crackdown in higher education. Just last week, Michigan State University canceled its annual Lunar New Year Lunch in respect to Trump’s recent executive orders on DEI.
AsAmNews is published by the non-profit, Asian American Media Inc.
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