Overview
- A federal lawsuit filed Monday in the Southern District of New York says Adam Kalkstein was told his contract would not be renewed after he objected to orders forbidding instruction that humans contribute to climate change.
- The complaint alleges a September 2025 emergency meeting told Geography faculty to remove all mention of human causes of climate change and warned that public complaints could risk the department’s survival.
- Kalkstein says he gave up tenure to remain as a term employee after a May 2025 personnel cut, protested the course restrictions at a November 5, 2025 meeting with then‑Dean Brig. Gen. Shane Reeves, and was later told nonrenewal was for “poor character and temperament.”
- The suit seeks reinstatement as a tenured professor, an injunction barring curriculum limits on established science, and monetary damages, while West Point says it is aware of the lawsuit and will not comment on active litigation.
- Reporters place the case in a wider trend of changes at the service academies under President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and legal experts note a prior favorable court ruling for another West Point professor could affect how the courts treat faculty speech and curriculum controls.