West Point Prof Sues, Says He Was Asked to 'Defy Science'

A longtime West Point science professor says he lost his job for refusing to sideline basic climate science. In a new federal lawsuit, Dr. Adam Kalkstein alleges that the US Military Academy ordered him to remove material on human-driven climate change from his curriculum—an instruction he says would force him "to defy science," per the New York Times. When he pushed back and declined to resign, the tenured professor says his contract was simply not renewed six months later.

Filed in the Southern District of New York, the complaint claims that West Point violated Kalkstein's First Amendment rights. Kalkstein—described by his lawyer as a conservative Republican, and who says his reviews at the school have been "outstanding," per Stars and Stripes—argues that understanding the causes of global warming is key to national security, from Arctic competition with Russia to melting sea ice. "This is not someone who is a radical or a progressive or anything close to that," Kalkstein's attorney tells the Independent. "He is a scientist, though, and he's trying to inform the cadets on what is true."

"It would be like trying to teach the law without being able to even mention the Constitution," Kalkstein reportedly argued to his supervisors at one point. The case lands amid broader efforts by the Trump administration and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to reshape the service academies, cut back civilian faculty, and scrutinize courses for "operational relevance," per the Times. It follows a separate court win by another West Point professor who challenged limits on expressing his views in class. Pentagon and White House officials haven't commented. West Point officials on Wednesday said they were "aware of the allegations and take such matters seriously," per Stars and Stripes.