Culture Change at the United States Air Force Academy
By Ron Scott
November 04, 2023
U.S. Air Force photo by Trevor Cokley
Following a Stand Together Against Racism and Radicalism in the Services, Inc. (STARRS) Town Hall meeting, a former Permanent Professor and Department Chair reached out to STARRS with concerns. Six full Permanent Professors retired from the U.S. Air Force Academy within a year for the following main reasons: a dean of faculty with virtually no operational experience who was uncommitted to academic excellence and contemptuous of the Honor Code; a purposeful intent to establish low rigor majors to mirror the academic ability of intercollegiate athletes; the use of intimidation to silence full professors; a deliberate policy to accentuate the influence of civilian faculty to the detriment of military instructors; and an overall decline of academic quality available to cadets.
Two of the six Permanent Professors explain why they retired in the following statement submitted to STARRS. The remaining 4 generally support this summation. :
“The departure of 6 Permanent Professors (PPs) from the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) between the fall of 2017 and the fall of 2018 was not due to any single incident or event but was certainly a final choice that many of us were brought to by years of poor leadership, outright rejection of institutional values, continual eroding of standards both in cadet classrooms and leadership environments, and unethical, vindictive actions engaged in by those placed in authority.
https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2023/11/04/culture_change_at_the_united_states_air_force_academy_990551.html