Straws in the Wind - Part 468

From Inside Higher Ed: The U.S. Military Academy at West Point cannot restrict what civilian faculty write or say publicly, a federal court judge ruled... The ruling permanently overturns a sweeping policy that required faculty members speaking in their professional capacity to seek prior approval for any external speech, including journal publications, media interviews and blog and social media posts. U.S. District Court Judge Cathy Seibel, a George W. Bush appointee, sided with Tim Bakken, the West Point law professor who sued the academy in September 2025, arguing the new policy was unconstitutional. In [her] ruling, Seibel agreed the policy violates the First Amendment. She also ruled that West Point may not prevent Bakken from “expressing or offering” his opinions or beliefs about the subject matter under discussion during his classes.

West Point could appeal the decision...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2026/09/10/judge-declares-west-point-faculty-gag-order-unconstitutional. 

Straws in the Wind - Part 455

From the NY Times: After 17 years of teaching science at West Point, Dr. Adam Kalkstein says he was suddenly ordered last year to cut from his curriculum information about the human causes of climate change, according to a new lawsuit filed against the U.S. Military Academy. The change was immoral and potentially illegal, Dr. Kalkstein says he told Brig. Gen. Shane R. Reeves, who at the time was dean of West Point. Instead of upholding Army values, Dr. Kalkstein said he felt like a liar and a fraud. General Reeves stormed out of the room when Dr. Kalkstein declined a suggestion that he resign, according to the lawsuit. Six months later, the tenured professor was told his contract would not be renewed.

Filed in the Southern District of New York, the lawsuit accuses West Point of breaking the law by violating Dr. Kalkstein’s First Amendment rights by forbidding him from teaching about human-driven climate change, an order that required him “to omit a massive, fundamental, essential component of the court and to defy science,” according to the suit...

Full story at https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/26/us/politics/west-point-climate-professor-lawsuit.html.

Straws in the Wind - Part 421

From the Washington Post: A West Point professor and his colleagues will remain ungagged for now, after the military academy declined to appeal a judge’s ruling that barred the school from restricting professors’ public comments. The West Point policy, adopted early last year, says no professor can give a speech, publish a paper or speak on a podcast without seeking approval from their department head. School leadership announced it a month after President Donald Trump issued an executive order forbidding military service academies from “promoting, advancing or otherwise inculcating” ideas deemed “un-American” or “divisive.” In late 2025, West Point’s longest-serving law professor, Tim Bakken, sued the academy in federal court over the policy...

West Point sought to dismiss the suit. Last month, federal judge Cathy Seibel, a President George W. Bush nominee, issued an interim ruling saying West Point cannot enforce the policy for civilian professors while Bakken’s case proceeds. Seibel also barred West Point from preventing Bakken from sharing his personal opinions with students. The academy had until Monday to appeal her ruling, but it did not do so...

Full story at https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2026/07/29/west-point-professors-free-comment-publicly-school-declines-appeal-ruling/.