West Point DEI Update!

Judicial Watch Sues for Records on Rebranding of West Point’s DEI Office
Judicial Watch Sues over $27M Grants for Use in Gaza
NIH Gives University $5 Mil to Study if its Racial Equity Institute Works

Judicial Watch Sues for Records on Rebranding of West Point’s DEI Office

It seems games are afoot at West Point to disguise its radical diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) agenda.

We filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Defense for information regarding the rebranding of West Point’s DEI office to “Office of Engagement and Retention” (Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S. Department of Defense(No. 1:24-cv-02941)).

We sued in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia after the United States Military Academy at West Point failed to respond to an August 28, 2024, FOIA request for:

1. All documents related to the renaming of and/or elimination of West Point’s “Office of Diversity, Inclusion and Equal Opportunity” (ODIEO).

2. All documents related to the creation of West Point’s “Office of Engagement and Retention.”

3. All emails related to the matters addressed in Bullets 1 and 2 sent to and from the following USMA officials: Superintendent LTG Steve Gilland, Dean BG Shane Reeves, Commandant BG R.J. Garcia, and Chief Diversity Officer Lisa Benitez.

Reporting in August 2024 detailed the name change:

The West Point Office of “Diversity, Inclusion and Equal Opportunity” is now called the “Office of Engagement and Retention”…. On the West Point page, there’s not much change beyond the title …

We recently sued on behalf of Stand Together Against Racism and Radicalism in the Services, Inc. (STARRS) against the U.S. Department of Defense for records regarding the U.S. Air Force Academy’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) plans.

In June 2024, we sued the Defense Department for records regarding the deletion of the words “Duty, Honor, Country” from the United States Military Academy at West Point’s mission statement.

In March 2023, records we obtained from the Department of Defense showed the Air Force Academy has made race and gender instruction a top priority in the training of cadets.

In July 2023, we exposed records from the United States Air Force Academy that included instructional materials and emails that address topics such as Critical Race Theory, “white privilege,” and Black Lives Matter.

In July 2022, we sued the Department of Defense for records related to the United States Naval Academy (USNA) implementing Critical Race Theory (CRT) in the training of naval recruits.

In June 2022, we received records revealing Critical Race Theory instruction at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point One training slide contains a graphic titled “MODERN-DAY SLAVERY IN THE USA.” [Emphasis in original].

Judicial Watch Sues over $27M Grants for Use in Gaza

There’s something fishy in aid to the Middle East.

We filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for records about $27 million in U.S. grants awarded to “Miscellaneous Foreign Awardees” that have been designated for use in Gaza (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Agency for International Development (No. 1:24-cv-02159)).

On April 2, 2024, we filed a FOIA request with the USAID for:

1. All records identifying the recipients of USAID funding under the $7,000,000 grant allocation awarded on or about November 15, 2023, and associated with Federal Award Identification Number 720BHA24GR00005.

2. All proposals, applications, scope of work documents, or similar records related to any grant award or sub-award associated with Federal Award Identification Number 720BHA24GR00005.

Recently USAID produced records in this case but is refusing to disclose what organizations received the money. We are challenging that withholding. USAID reports that over $282 million was obligated to the West Bank and Gaza in fiscal year 2023.

On October 7, 2023, Hamas—a U.S.-designated terrorist organization—invaded southwest Israel, killing over a thousand people and kidnapping hundreds of others.

On November 15, 2023, the Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, a component of the USAID, issued a $7 million grantfor “multisectoral response in Gaza.” The grant was awarded to “Miscellaneous Foreign Awardees.” The same day a “continuation” grant of $20 million was also issued for “multisectoral response.”

The involvement of employees of a U.S.-backed multinational organization in the October 7 attack on Israel underscores the importance of transparency in who receives U.S. taxpayer dollars and how they are spent. This is critical to protecting the national security of the U.S. and Israel.

NIH Gives University $5 Mil to Study if its Racial Equity Institute Works

Using your tax dollars, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) researchers at a public university will be scanning people’s brains to see if the center it launched in 2021 to address systemic racism has been effective. Our Corruption Chroniclesblog takes a closer look:

A public university in Pennsylvania is getting $5 million from American taxpayers to research the effectiveness of a special center it launched in 2021 to address systemic racism. It is called the Racial Equity Consciousness Institute (RECI) and its founders at the University of Pittsburgh claim it is essential because “systemic racism is an endemic public health crisis in the United States that has a profoundly negative impact on the mental and physical health of millions of people—focally, people of color.” Furthermore,   according to RECI.

Since it was launched by Ron Idoko, who previously worked at the school’s Office for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, RECI has worked to eradicate systemic racism by developing a critical understanding of the complex and pervasive ways it operates and establishing strategies to foster racial equity. The institute claims to teach individuals about the racial equity consciousness framework by using narrative guides, videos, articles, open discussion and collaborative activities. To develop racial equity consciousness the institute teaches how to recognize racial oppression and advance racial liberation, examine racial identities and address racial biases, embrace racial diversity and grow racial literacy, build racial empathy and enhance racial stamina, acknowledge racial traumas and foster racial healing, gauge racial inequities and champion racial justice. This helps recognize histories and impacts of racial inequity, embraces the inclusion of all racial identity groups, builds compassionate connections across racial differences, and acknowledges emotional, mental, and physical impacts of racial oppression, among other things.

The institute uses “structured cognitive behavioral training” (SCBT) to address and determine thoughts, feelings and behaviors toward racial equity and justice. This is described as an instructional, process-oriented derivative of cognitive behavioral therapy that provides an empowering tool and approach to consciously address and assert one’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors toward racial equity and justice. The program is designed to help individuals and communities actively develop and embody distinct cognitive behavioral traits toward racial equity through structured learning and practice. “Learners” are encouraged to reflect on and address systemic factors that contribute to racial disparities and develop systemic processes toward racial equity. “Through this approach, we can understand how to take the transformation within ourselves and bring it into a world of structures and systems, transforming them in the process,” according to the RECI website. “Thus, every person committed to antiracism becomes a source of positive change that radiates out into the world.”

Sounds fantastic but there is no concrete evidence that it is working. The research funded by the NIH will focus on identifying the effectiveness of RECI training as well as other bias drills on diversity and attitudes that perpetuate systemic racism in healthcare outcomes, especially among marginalized communities. Outcomes of the intervention will be measured through questionnaires and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) that looks for structural brain changes before and after the program. The randomized trial will involve participants from over two dozen schools. One of the University of Pittsburgh researchers says she is excited about the possibility of generating evidence of the effectiveness of RECI because so far, the center relies on people claiming it has changed their life. The institute’s founder claims he has received overwhelmingly positive feedback from hundreds of participants and has also seen behavioral changes firsthand, but again, no material evidence.

So, Uncle Sam will dole out millions to see if the institute actually helps combat the public health crisis of systemic racism. “These inequities are perpetuated through normative, and often unconscious, biases and behaviors,” the Pittsburgh researchers write in their NIH grant document. “In recent years, academic institutions have devised new policies and initiatives to promote inclusive excellence, and in doing so have put a greater burden on underrepresented (UR) faculty to lead these efforts. Yet, many UR faculty are continuing to disproportionately leave the academy, indicating that academic institutions have not succeeded in their goal of dismantling systemic inequities and making academia more inclusive.”

Until next week,