Judicial Watch Sues for Records on Removal of West Point Crest from Bibles in Academy Chapel

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Defense for records about the removal of the West Point crest from Bibles in the Cadet Chapel at the United States Military Academy (Judicial Watch, Inc. v. U.S. Department of Defense (No. 1:25-cv-01855)).  

The lawsuit was filed after the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, a component of the Defense Department, failed to respond to a December 13, 2024, FOIA request for:  

1. All documents that form the basis upon which the decision was made to remove the West Point Crest from the cover of the Bibles in the West Point Chapel. 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.

2. All emails sent to and from Col. Matthew Pawlikowski [former U.S. Military Academy chaplain] regarding the crest’s appearance on the cover of the Bibles used in the West Point Chapel. 

Judicial Watch filed the FOIA request after receiving information from a reliable source – the MacArthur Society, an association of West Point graduates – that the West Point crest had been on the Bibles since 1984 and was removed sometime in December 2024. 

In a related incident, in a March 12, 2024, “Message from the 61st Superintendent,” Superintendent LTG Steven Gilland announced the change, referencing the Army’s continued commitment to “Duty, Honor and Country” and then announced the new mission statement without explaining why the words themselves were deleted. 

“It appears the Biden administration and its leftist accomplices were determined to sever all connections between West Point and traditional values,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “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.” 

In May 2025, Judicial Watch uncovered records from West Point, revealing that speakers at the March 2024 “Founders Day” event were instructed to “AVOID saying ‘removed,’ ‘replaced,’ ‘deleted’ [when referring to the new mission statement] – just refer to the ‘updated mission statement and reinforce that the motto remains unchanged.” [Emphasis in original] The records also tied DEI efforts to the mission statement controversy.  

In November 2024, Judicial Watch filed a FOIA lawsuit against the Defense Department for information regarding the rebranding of West Point’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) office to “Office of Engagement and Retention.” 

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

In July 2023, Judicial Watch exposed records from the U.S. Air Force Academy, a component of the Defense Department, which included instructional materials and emails that addressed topics such as Critical Race Theory, “white privilege,” and Black Lives Matter. 

In June 2022, Judicial Watch uncovered Critical Race Theory (CRT) instruction at the U.S. Military Academy. One training slide contained a graphic titled “MODERN-DAY SLAVERY IN THE USA.” [Emphasis in original] 

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