West Point Climate Curriculum Lawsuit

A federal lawsuit filed on August 24 in the Southern District of New York alleges that the United States Military Academy at West Point violated Dr. Adam Kalkstein’s First Amendment rights by prohibiting him from teaching that human activity drives climate change. The complaint says the order was issued after a presidential directive that barred academy faculty from mentioning anthropogenic climate change in coursework. After refusing to remove the material, Kalkstein was stripped of tenure, placed on a contract funded by his research grant, and ultimately had his contract not renewed. The suit seeks an injunction against the academy’s restrictions, reinstatement to his tenured position, and monetary damages for lost earnings and emotional distress.

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Kalkstein, a civilian geography professor and the academy’s sole climate scientist, had taught climatology for 17 years, receiving consistently “outstanding” performance reviews. In 2025, senior academy officials announced a “reduction in force” that included Kalkstein, coinciding with the rollout of a new Center for the Humanities and a directive—communicated in a departmental meeting—to omit any reference to human contributions to climate change. The professor argued that the omission misrepresented scientific consensus and compromised cadets’ education, likening it to teaching law without mentioning the Constitution. The academy’s leadership cited “poor character and temperament” as the reason for non-renewal, a justification the complaint disputes.

The Independent

• Approximately 20 % of West Point’s roughly 500 faculty members are civilians.

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• Kalkstein held an external research grant of about $750,000 to study weather-system efficacy for troop protection.

The Independent

• The lawsuit identifies two civilian faculty members who were let go in the same reduction, one of whom researched bias.

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Pentagon, academy, and White House officials declined to comment when contacted. The academy’s internal response, as described in the complaint, framed the non-renewal decision around character concerns rather than the curriculum dispute.

The Independent

• “He is loyal to the cadets and the academy,” — Mr. Sussman, attorney

New York Times

• “It’s not a college-level course. It’s not even a high school course. Not because it isn’t rigorous; it is. But because we’re leaving out essential information,” — Dr. Adam Kalkstein, the lawyer

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• “We’re only telling cadets part of the story. We’re lying to them, deceiving them. It would be like trying to teach the law without being able to even mention the Constitution,” — Dr. Adam Kalkstein, the lawyer

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• “Despite this, we should not lose sight that human-induced climate change still has a very real, very measurable and very important impact on national security that should be studied closely by the Department of War and considered for both its present and future security implications,” — Dr. Adam Kalkstein, the lawyer

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The plaintiff’s complaint requests a jury trial and asks the court to block West Point from enforcing “baseless” academic restrictions. The case remains pending; no hearing date has been announced. If successful, the injunction could restore the ability of academy faculty to teach established climate science, potentially influencing curriculum policy across U.S. service academies.

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