West Point Bible crest controversy spurs Pentagon lawsuit from conservative watchdog
FIRST ON FOX: A conservative judicial and government watchdog group has filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Department of Defense over documents related to a controversy surrounding the U.S. Military Academy at West Point crest on Bibles in the West Point Cadet Chapel.
Judicial Watch originally submitted a FOIA request in December 2024 for documents related to the Bibles, after the MacArthur Society, a group for West Point graduates concerned about potential politicization at the military academy, tipped them off to the potential removal of the crest from the Bibles.
The original request for the documents said: "Upon information and belief, the West Point Crest has appeared on the cover of the Bibles in the West Point Chapel since 1984, but circa December 2024, the Crest has been removed from the Bibles."
It's unclear why the crest was removed, prompting Judicial Watch to file the original FOIA request to learn more about the decision, amid concerns that the military academy is seeking to wipe out any affiliation with what the group calls "traditional values."
Mixing religious material with military paraphernalia has come under scrutiny in the past. For example, all four branches of the military yanked approval in 2012 for a military series of Holman Christian Standard Bibles that were sold at military exchanges, due to concerns that the series signaled the Bible was the official religious text of the military services, according to the Military Religious Freedom Foundation.
The West Point crest has undergone multiple variations, but historically has featured an eagle above the school's mascot, the Black Knights.
A spokesperson for West Point told Fox News Digital that the chapel's Bibles now feature the name of the military academy.
"The bibles purchased for the West Point Cadet Chapel are emblazoned, ‘The United States Miliary Academy, West Point, New York,'" the spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News Digital.
The Department of Defense told Fox News Digital it does not comment on pending litigation.
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Even so, Judicial Watch filed a lawsuit for the documents pertaining to the Bibles Tuesday after receiving no response for the requested records.
"It appears the Biden administration and its leftist accomplices were determined to sever all connections between West Point and traditional values," Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "They added divisive DEI programs to the curriculum and removed ‘Duty, Honor, Country’ from the Military Academy’s mission statement. Now, we learn they removed the West Point crest from Bibles in the West Point Chapel. It’s a wonder they didn’t remove the Bibles."
This isn’t the first time West Point has come under scrutiny from the conservative watchdog.
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In May, Judicial Watch claimed that West Point engaged in a "cover up" scheme when it altered its mission statement in 2024 from "duty, honor, country" to "Army Values." According to the watchdog group, the change was part of an effort to advance a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) agenda.
Even so, West Point’s mission statement has been changed nine times in the past century, and the words "duty, honor, country" didn’t make it into West Point’s mission statement until 1998.
When asked about the mission statement change in May, an Army spokesperson directed Fox News Digital to West Point Superintendent Lt. Gen. Steven Gilland's original announcement: "Our absolute focus on developing leaders of character ready to lead our Army's Soldiers on increasingly lethal battlefields remains unchanged."
West Point is one of several U.S. military academies that trains students to become military officers.
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