On March 19, 2025, the United States Naval Academy (USNA) announced that it was canceling its annual Naval Academy Foreign Affairs Conference (NAFAC) that was scheduled to take place on April 7-11, 2025. The cancellation was apparently related to concerns that some of the material featured at the conference might trigger pressures on the university from the United States government.

The NAFAC conference has taken place annually for 65 years. Each conference is planned about one year in advance. The theme of the 2025 conference was intended to be “The Constellation of Humanitarian Assistance: Persevering Through Conflict.”

On March 19, USNA issued a statement explaining that it was reviewing all previously scheduled events in order to ensure that they aligned with the recent, unspecified Executive Orders signed by US President Donald Trump and directives issued by the Departments of Defense and Navy. In light of the review, USNA had canceled the conference.

Scholars at Risk is concerned about the cancellation of an academic conference involving qualified scholars in an apparent attempt to censor academic discussion and avoid state retaliation against the host institution. Limits on research, teaching, and discourse, whether imposed by higher education leaders or state officers, undermine academic freedom, institutional autonomy, and democratic society generally.

Sources:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/24/us/politics/naval-academy-trump.html
https://www.usna.edu/NAFAC/index.php