West Point Removes 'Duty, Honor, Country' From Mission Statement
Summary from the AllSides News Team
The U.S. Military Academy at West Point has removed "Duty, Honor, Country" from its mission statement, and is replacing it with the words, "Army Values."
The Details: It's the tenth change to West Point's mission statement in the last 100 years. "Duty, Honor, Country" was added in 1998.
Key Quotes: "Duty, Honor, Country is West Point's motto and the foundation of our culture as it has been since 1898. As we have done nine times in the past century, we have updated our mission statement to now include the Army values [of] loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, integrity and personal courage," a West Point spokesman said.
How the Media Covered It: The Associated Press (Lean Left bias) and Fox News (Right) similarly framed the move as controversial and highlighted criticism from conservatives who said the academy had gone woke.
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Right
West Point military academy drops 'Duty, Honor, Country' from mission statement
The U.S. Military Academy at West Point has made the decision to remove the "Duty, Honor, Country" motto from its mission statement.
Officials stressed that the phrase would remain West Point's motto, however, and that the mission statement has changed on a regular basis; this new mission statement is West Point's tenth since 1925. "Duty, Honor, Country" hadn't been included as part of the mission statement until 1998.
In a letter sent to students and supporters, Superintendent Lt. Gen. Steve Gilland said the phrase would be replaced in the mission statement with...
From the Center
West Point’s new mission statement omits MacArthur’s ‘duty, honor, country’
The U.S. Military Academy at West Point has updated its new mission statement, which now omits retired Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s famous “duty, honor, country” and caused a stir among people who disagree with the decision.
In a statement released Monday, Lt. Gen. Steve Gilland, West Point’s superintendent, said the phrase is “foundational” to the academy’s culture and despite the change in mission statement, it will “always remain our motto.”
“It defined who we are as an institution and as graduates of West Point,” he wrote. “These three hallowed words are the...
From the Left
Duty, Honor, Outrage: Change to West Point’s mission statement sparks controversy
“Duty, Honor, Country” has been the motto of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point since 1898. That motto isn’t changing, but a decision to take those words out of the school’s lesser-known mission statement is still generating outrage.
Officials at the 222-year-old military academy 60 miles (96 kilometers) north of New York City recently reworked the one-sentence mission statement, which is updated periodically, usually with little fanfare.
The school’s “Duty, Honor, Country,” motto first made its way into that mission statement in 1998.
The new version declares that the...
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