The U.S. Naval Academy has pulled nearly 400 books relating to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), the Associated Press reports.
Nine hundred titles were flagged for removal, but only about 400 were ultimately taken down from shelves.
The removal follows President Donald Trump’s January executive order on ending DEI.
“The Biden Administration forced illegal and immoral discrimination programs, going by the name ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ (DEI), into virtually all aspects of the Federal Government, in areas ranging from airline safety to the military,” the order says, adding, “Americans deserve a government committed to serving every person with equal dignity and respect, and to expending precious taxpayer resources only on making America great.”
“All service academies are fully committed to executing and implementing President Trump’s Executive Orders,” said Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell.
The Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, similarly announced in February that it would be “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.”
A 2024 report from Arizona State University’s Center for American Institutions found that education and training within the U.S. military included widespread DEI initiatives.
“The U.S. Armed Forces should not be a laboratory for social experimentation, especially one based on Critical Race Theory, a contentious and abstract social theory,” the report said. “Yet, as this Commission Report on Civic Education in the Military shows in great detail, Critical Race Theory is promoted within Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) training throughout the military from the Pentagon through the ranks and in our service academies.”
