Black, Asian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Vietnamese, Hispanic, Women Army Orders West Point to Disband Clubs | TIME 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 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 appreciation of Japanese culture and language”; the Korean American Relations Seminar, which focused on education around the Korean American experience; the Latin Cultural Club, which operated two subordinate clubs: West Point Latin Dance and the mentorship- and outreach-focused Latina Connection; the Native American Heritage Forum, which had the mission to “educate members of the Corps of Cadets about the history, heritage, and current affairs of Native Americans”; Spectrum, a social club that provided support to LGBTQ cadets and promoted acceptance of LGBTQ people in the military community; and the Vietnamese-American Cadet Association, which aimed to increase “cultural awareness of the Vietnamese-American experience” and the “legacy of Vietnamese-American veterans.” It also included the West Point chapters of the National Society of Black Engineers, the Society for Hispanic Professional Engineers, and the Society of Women Engineers.
you know the first thing I'm talking about when in-house counsel walks through the door tonight . . . I'll be back in touch
I will say that the service academies had significant exceptions/carveouts in the affirmative action cases . . . it will be interesting to see if the same logic holds here on these types of student clubs. Given the academies are publicly-funded, these clubs being disbanded may in fact be in line with how the law is proceeding
It's due to the EO. 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.
yes but they may also be reacting in part to the anti-discrimination cases elsewhere in higher education. Right now the Trump administration has trained its gunsights so to speak on higher ed . . . and the service academies may just want to stay out of the limelight on that score. Institutions of higher education have been known to act proactively on occasion. Unusual, yes, but not unheard of.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Society_of_Black_Engineers In 1971, two Purdue undergraduates, Edward Barnette and Fred Cooper founded the Black Society of Engineers (BSE) with faculty advisor Arthur J. Bond. The BSE was founded in response to the 80% drop out rate of Black freshmen in engineering programs in the 1960s. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Society_of_Women_Engineers The SWE's mission statement is to "Empower women to achieve full potential in careers as engineers and leaders, expand the image of the engineering and technology professions as a positive force in improving the quality of life, and demonstrate the value of diversity and inclusion."[21] The organization is open to every gender and background in an effort to support and promote diversity.[22]
right, I'm not dismissing what you are saying, but I'm 99% sure there is nothing more to it than just following the EO
But shouldn't groups be allowed to create whatever groups they want? Isn't that a freedom people should get to have without having others stop them?
All cultures and ethnicities are allowed to form groups and celebrate their heritage. ... ...except whites, of course.
How I feel isn't important. If it doesn't impact me negatively, I don't care. If it's meant to lift up White people and help them perform better, that's great.
Society of White Engineers = Society of (the white is unsaid and silent) Engineers =RACIST NAZIS!!!! Society of Engineers didn't allow black folx in it. . . . so Society of black Engineers was created . . .. . now YOU white folx want to call it racist . . . .. because you believe it is your god given right to deny other groups but other groups cannot do the same Rocket River
On the disbanded clubs: these clubs, IF exclusive (meaning black engineers only allow blacks in the club), have been illegal all along according to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. NOT illegal if open to any and all members (e.g., black engineers allow whites, hispanics, and any others to join). That's the law; that's been the law all along. I'll echo what I've said previously, that people within higher ed have been reluctant to do for fifty years is acknowledge that their support of "underrepresented groups" has manifested itself occasionally in well-intended but illegal ways, including the acceptance of grants designed to bolster underrepresented groups. (I know of one case where the Melinda Gates Foundation tried to support a "women in STEM"-type scholarship program, and Gates had to be told that the program as originally conceived was an illegal violation of Title VI.) Much of what is happening right now that is being depicted as "caused" by Trump's DEI directives have little to nothing to do with DEI as such. They do have to do with conforming to the law as it has existed since the Civil Rights Act . My wife's own institutional clients have not wanted to hear this message for the 35+ years she's been employed as a university attorney; but they are hearing it now. The Trump administration's DEI directives are, at least in part, forcing college administrators to examine their programs closely and bring them back into conformance with long-standing federal law.
