By Colonel (Ret) Bill Prince
President of the MacArthur Society
Guest Editorial
A good news story!! The West Point Association of Graduates has cancelled the scheduled 9-10 April 2025 West Point Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Conference.
Col. (Ret.) Bill Prince here, President of the MacArthur Society of West Point Graduates. As most of you reading this will likely understand, these last several days have been exciting but extraordinarily busy (frantic?) as we have tried to deal with the ramifications of President Trump’s Executive Order on DEI. I initially drafted but did not send an “Action Alert” with the title, “When a ‘West Point Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Conference’ becomes a ‘Legacy of Graduates and Leaders Forum.’ Was this an attempt to circumvent an Executive Order? You be the judge.” That “Action Alert” was over taken by events.
By way of background, former MacArthur Society President John Hughes and I attended the “20th Annual West Point Diversity & Inclusion Leadership Conference” 30-31 August 2023. West Point’s Office of Diversity Inclusion and Equal Opportunity (ODIEO) staff, led by West Point ‘s Chief Diversity Officer Ms. Lisa Benitez, managed that conference. The West Point leadership, including Superintendent LTG Steven W. Gilland, Academic Dean BG Shane Reeves and (then) Commandant of Cadets BG Lori L. Robinson were actively, and by all appearances, enthusiastically involved. LTG Gilland’s opening speech highlighted “…how important and how critical it (diversity) is not only to our U.S. Military Academy, to our military but especially to our nation.” Approximately 20 members of the USMA staff and faculty directly participated in the conference. I published an article titled “When a Diversity Conference Could Benefit From an Increase in Diversity” which is still available on the internet.
The conference, going forward, was officially renamed “The 21st Annual Iris and Herman Bulls ’78 Family West Point Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Conference” funded as I remember in perpetuity by a very generous grant from Mr. Bulls. The 21st Annual Conference was originally scheduled for August 2024. I had been eagerly awaiting attending the conference, but it had been postponed twice, scheduled most recently for 9-10 April 2025. For the last approximately eight months the West Point Association of Graduates (WPAOG) had been promoting the conference on its website. The draft schedule of events and speakers, however, showed a dramatic difference from the 2023 conference. Noteworthy absences included the Superintendent, the Dean and the Commandant. In fact, there was only one speaker from the Academy staff, Dr. Jeffery Peterson, Senior Advisor for Character, providing an “Academy Update” and he was listed as “tentative.”
More changes to come! Effective 21 January 2025 (a noteworthy date), the West Point Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Conference underwent a name change. It became “The Iris and Herman Bulls’78 Family Legacy of Graduates and Leaders Forum.” The revised draft schedule (also dated 21 Jan.) showed most but not all events moved from the Cadet Activities Building (Eisenhower Hall) to the West Point Club. Although the conference title had eliminated “Diversity” – Workshop 1 (10:15-11:15am Wednesday) would cover “The Evolution of Diversity” and Panel 2 (2:30-3:15pm Wednesday) would discuss “Corporate Diversity.” Interestingly, the Evening Reception event in 2023 “Featuring Cultural & Diversity Cadet Clubs” was listed on the 2025 schedule as “Cocktail Reception with Cadet Cultural Clubs.” Begs the question, are these clubs no longer “diverse”?
Given the recent Executive Order “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing” the above quick changes came as no surprise. Of course, the EO specifically forbids activities from being “…misleadingly relabeled.” in “…an attempt to preserve their pre-November 4, 2024 function.” Other questions remained. What support would USMA be providing to the conference? For example, costs associated with the use of Eisenhower Hall, shuttle buses to move attendees, food for Wednesday night’s Cocktail Reception. Would AOG reimburse USMA for these costs? If so, how much? And would AOG advise the Long Gray Line of these reimbursements; if so how. In addition, the AOG Headquarters (Herbert Hall) resides on a U.S. Military installation. It would seem, from a legal standpoint, that any organization which knowingly engages in an activity which is prohibited elsewhere on a federal installation, creates a liability for that organization and the installation.
To get answers, on 23 January, I spoke by phone with AOG President Mark Bieger. He assured me that AOG was in the process of reviewing the Executive Orders to ensure full compliance. In a subsequent email to Mark, I expressed concerns from MacArthur Society members, to include attorneys, that the decision to change the name of the “West Point Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Conference” to the “Legacy of Graduates and Leaders Forum” could be in violation of the January 21, 2025 Office of Personnel Management Memorandum regarding the use of “coded or imprecise language” to thwart the President’s pivotal Executive Order “Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing”; and that USMA, by supporting this conference, or even allowing it to take place at West Point, could be acting contrary to Executive Order mandates.
I urged Mark to cancel this conference. In a subsequent email, I pointed out that after not responding to an official FOIA request, West Point is now being sued – charged with “rebranding” the Office of Diversity Inclusion and Equal Opportunity into the Office of Engagement and Retention. Added to that is the recent and humiliating PAO scandal. I cautioned that the Long Gray Line does not need another politically charged controversy. I ended by saying if the AOG did not cancel the D&I Conference, that based upon strong recommendations from members of the MacArthur Society Board of Directors, we would have no choice but to provide the “facts and circumstances” to the Office of Personnel Management (DEIAtruth@opm.gov) as required by the OPM Memorandum to “Heads and Acting Heads of Departments and Agencies.”
Thus, I appreciated the phone call from Mark on 24 Jan. that AOG had cancelled the Conference. I told him I felt he/they had made the right decision. And I said I looked forward to the MacArthur Society producing positive reporting on activities at West Point.
Thus far unanswered are several interesting questions. What happens to Mr. Bull’s very generous donation to endow the Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Conference in perpetuity? It would be very interesting to know the size of the endowment. Also of interest, welcoming to the 2025 Conference was to have been Ms. Erica Jeffries-Purdo, USMA ’98, identified in the schedule as the Chair, WPAOG Diversity Committee. Mr. Bulls had helped to establish and was the first chair, of the AOG Board’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee. Will that committee continue to exist? Should it? AOG headquarters and staff offices reside on a U.S. Military installation.
As I hope these actions indicate, MacArthur Society efforts are increasingly important and relevant. We will continue to shine the light into areas of concern. Please share this AAR and consider making a donation. And, while much remains to be seen regarding the impact of the Trump Administration’s efforts regarding DEI, not to mention the confirmation of Pete Hegseth as the new Secretary of Defense, we in the MacArthur Society look forward to fulfilling our pledge to WPAOG President Mark Bieger to publish more good news stories about West Point. Stay tuned!
