DrWebWarriors Don’t Fear Ideas – U.S. Naval Institute – 2025
If the Naval Academy is to develop future warriors and scholars of the highest caliber, it must encourage them to think independently. Here, U.S. Naval Academy’s class of 2025 midshipmen stand and take the oath of office. (Kenneth D. Aston Jr.)If the Naval Academy is to develop future warriors and scholars of the highest caliber, it must encourage them to think independently. Here, U.S. Naval Academy’s class of 2025 midshipmen stand and take the oath of office
(Kenneth D. Aston Jr.)
Warriors Don’t Fear Ideas
By Jason Chen, Kristen Kavanaugh, and Michael Smith
June 2025, Proceedings, Vol. 151/6/1,468
On 27 January, an executive order directed the Department of Defense (DoD) to abolish Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) programs and prohibit its educational institutions from promoting what the document called “un-American, divisive, discriminatory, radical, extremist, and irrational theories.” The order further directed a comprehensive review of the “leadership, curriculum, and instructors of the United States Service Academies.” Two days later, DoD issued a similarly titled memorandum to military and civilian leaders, stating that, “No element within DoD will provide instruction on critical race theory, DEI, or gender ideology as part of a curriculum.” The justification for these policies falls under Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s overarching priority to “forge warriors, rebuild strength, and restore deterrence.” The U.S. Naval Academy’s military and civilian leaders have followed the DoD’s direction, as they are duty-bound to do.
While Hegseth’s oft-repeated goal of maximizing warfighting and lethality is laudable, it cannot be achieved by suppressing ideas or stifling academic inquiry.
A timeline of recent events at the Naval Academy demonstrates a concerted effort to suppress and stifle:
● October 2024 – The Naval Academy rescinds an invitation to speak for Dr. Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a scholar of authoritarianism and fascist movements, to deliver the annual Bancroft Lecture. The Academy claims the speech has not been cancelled, but rescheduled, though no new date has been announced.
● February 2025 – The Academy launches a review of midshipman clubs and affinity groups for cancellation. Groups organized around religious affiliation are exempted, but some formed around gender or ethnicity are targeted, such as the Midshipmen Black Studies Club, the Society of Women Engineers, and “Moms in Flight Suits”—a mentoring group of experienced female aviators for female midshipmen interested in naval aviation.
● March 2025 – In anticipation of a visit by Secretary Hegseth, a display featuring the achievements of female Jewish graduates is removed. The Academy’s director of communications confirmed the action but said it was done mistakenly, and the display was returned after the Secretary’s departure.
● March 2025 – The Naval Academy cancels the annual Michelson Lecture speaker, Dr. Susan Solomon, who was to give a speech the following month on atmospheric science, because it was “not well aligned with executive orders and other directives.”
Read more: Warriors Don’t Fear Ideas – U.S. Naval Institute – 2025Source Links: Warriors Don’t Fear Ideas | Proceedings – June 2025 Vol. 151/6/1,468
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Benjamin S-B 
