Naval Academy Launches Review Of School Clubs To Ensure Compliance With Trump’s DEI Prohibition
The U.S. Naval Academy is reviewing school-sponsored clubs and activities to ensure compliance with President Donald Trump’s prohibition on DEI ideology in the federal government, The Federalist has learned.
Since returning to the White House, Trump has signed a series of executive orders restoring meritocracy to the military and federal agencies. The directives specifically order the termination of all “diversity, equity, and inclusion,” or DEI, programs, positions, and policies, which often prioritize an individual’s characteristics such as race and sex over merit.
Last week, it was reported that West Point, the U.S. Army’s academy, disbanded roughly a dozen identity-based clubs in compliance with the president’s DEI orders. The organizations terminated due to their affiliation with the school’s former DEI office included the Society of Black Engineers at West Point, the Asian-Pacific Forum Club, the pro-LGBT club Spectrum, and others.
When pressed on whether the Naval Academy would be taking similar actions to ensure compliance with Trump’s orders barring DEI, a Naval Academy representative told The Federalist that the school “is committed to implementing all Executive Orders in alignment with the Department of Defense and the Department of the Navy,” and that a schoolwide analysis of existing clubs is underway.
“We are reviewing all clubs and extracurricular activities to ensure alignment with applicable Executive Orders and will provide updated implementation guidance as needed,” the representative said.
The Naval Academy currently lists several identity-based clubs on its website, including the Midshipmen Black Studies Club, Society of Women Engineers, Italian-American Midshipmen Club, and more.
No Naval Academy clubs have been disbanded as of this article’s publication, according to the school representative.
A late January memo sent to academy staff by Superintendent Yvette Davids and later reported by Fox News revealed that the school is “taking steps to close all agency Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) offices and end all DEIA-related contracts in accordance with President Trump’s executive orders.” As described by the outlet, the academy noted that “it has not had a DEI office since at least the summer of 2024 … and that no office has been closed as a result of the executive order.”
[READ: 30-Year Naval Academy Teacher Details Depth Of DEI Rot In America’s Military Institutions]
The Naval Academy has notably faced accusations of unlawfully using race in its school admissions policies.
In a lawsuit filed against the academy in October 2023, the organization known as Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) alleged, as summarized by Politico, that the Naval Academy is violating applicants’ Fifth Amendment rights by “engaging in racial balancing in their admissions of new classes.” The group specifically claimed that the school is discriminating against applicants who are white and Asian in favor of those who are black, Hispanic, and Native American.
SFFA is the group that brought lawsuits against Harvard and the University of North Carolina’s race-based admissions policies to the U.S. Supreme Court several years ago. While the high court sided with SFFA and ruled that the aforementioned universities’ consideration of applicants’ race during the admissions process violates the 14th Amendment, the decision did not consider the use of such affirmative action policies by America’s military academies.
A federal judge struck down SFFA’s lawsuit against the Naval Academy in December 2024, prompting the group to appeal the decision to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Monday’s revelation came the same day Trump announced via Truth Social that he has “ordered the immediate dismissal of the Board of Visitors for the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Coast Guard.” The president noted how America’s “Service Academies have been infiltrated by Woke Leftist Ideologues over the last four years” and that, “We will have the strongest Military in History, and that begins by appointing new individuals to these Boards.”
“We must make the Military Academies GREAT AGAIN!” he added.
Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood
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