By Scott Calvert

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The U.S. Naval Academy's culling of hundreds of library books to comply with a Trump administration order is whipping up waves of discontent in this city where institutional pride runs uncommonly deep.

The message from many locals: Don't give up the book.

The phrase -- echoing the 19th-century Navy rally cry "Don't give up the ship" -- now decorates stickers and soon, T-shirts, across Annapolis. This comes after the academy recently removed 381 books with race and gender themes to meet broad Trump administration directives ending diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

"Banning books, removing them from the library, is a complete contradiction to everything the Naval Academy stands for," said William Marks, a 1996 graduate and former Academy spokesman. "We're entrusting these midshipmen to be the leaders of our Navy and Marine Corps."

Marks, a retired Navy commander, launched an online fundraiser to make the targeted books free for midshipmen who want them. The effort has raised nearly $67,000 so far.

Some academy alums approve of the book culling. Kirk Hansen, 77, a Florida resident who visited Annapolis for an April class reunion, said "for the most part, I fail to see how these books support" the academy's mission to develop midshipmen morally, mentally and physically. He added that he opposes the "divisive ideology" of DEI.

The buzz in Maryland's small capital city over a college library speaks to the unusually tight bond between Annapolis and the Naval Academy. Their identities so entwine that Annapolis is shorthand for the institution itself. Many residents, or their relatives, attended the academy, where future officers have trained since 1845. Midshipmen, or "mids," are a familiar sight jogging past touristy City Dock, strolling Main Street in their whites, and marching through town before football games.

Now, signs of the book brouhaha abound. A short walk down a brick street from the academy, Old Fox Books & Coffeehouse displays about 30 of the banished books and is coordinating the giveaway with Marks. The book removal was a hot topic at the recent annual croquet match between the Naval Academy and another local institution, St. John's College.

Tensions began several weeks ago. Navy officials selected academy books to pull after a keyword search flagged about 900 titles at Nimitz Library, home to roughly 590,000 print books, a Navy spokesman said. Officials declined to disclose the keywords or how the list was whittled. Other military institutions have also been reviewing library holdings.

Titles removed on March 31 and April 1 include "Horse" by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Geraldine Brooks, a novel centered around a Black slave's care of a racehorse; another is a feminist analysis of how Holocaust victims are remembered. Adolf Hitler's manifesto, "Mein Kampf, " remains available, according to the library's website, as does "The Bell Curve," a controversial 1994 book that argued there were IQ differences between races.

Author Ryan Holiday publicly said the academy canceled his April lecture on wisdom after he declined to stay mum about the book removal. The Navy said the academy is apolitical and "made a schedule change that aligns with its mission of preparing midshipmen for careers of service."

Some withdrawn books didn't seem pertinent to military education, said Carl Larkin, a Democrat who lives near the academy and worships at its chapel. But Larkin, 85, said he thinks officials went overboard and yanked too many titles.

Many locals say the controversy won't tarnish cherished local ties, which are highlighted by the academy's No. 1 ranking in the Princeton Review's town-gown relations category.

"If anything, I would say this might well strengthen the bond," said Mark Kleinschmidt, leader of the county Chamber of Commerce. "The mids that are here, they're just kind of pawns in this game."

Grayson Morgan, a 1995 academy graduate and retired Navy captain living outside Annapolis, doubts most midshipmen have read many titles on the list, some of them textbooks. But he added: "Just because a library has things in it that I will never read doesn't mean they don't have value to someone." He secured the web domain dontgiveupthebook.com and offered it to Old Fox Books co-owner Jinny Amundson, who plans to use it in her shop's campaign to spotlight the dropped library books.

Though Annapolis is heavily Democratic, pushback to the book culling transcends party. "I read 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.' You think I go around dropping acid?" said Bob Mann, a 66-year-old banker and registered Republican, who thinks books should be removed only if they advocate violence.

GOP voter David Driftmier, a retired naval officer and corporate executive, read one of the 381 titles -- "So You Want to Talk About Race, " by Ijeoma Oluo -- after George Floyd's 2020 murder, to better understand his Black friends' experiences. "Did I agree with everything in it? No," said Driftmier, 60. But he called it "incredibly enlightening."

The sprawling academy grounds border Annapolis's historic district, dotted with homes that predate America's founding. Anna Boehk, a registered Republican, lives so close she can hear the daily playing of "The Star-Spangled Banner." Like many residents, she sponsors a midshipman through a program to give students a home away from home. The 32-year-old, trained in library science, said the list is "definitely a head-scratcher."

Amundson, of Old Fox Books, has rallied area merchants to highlight the rejected titles during upcoming commissioning-week festivities, which will culminate in graduation and an address by Vice President JD Vance on May 23. Protests included a public reading of Maya Angelou's autobiographical "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," one of the removed titles.

Amundson, 47, lived at the academy during middle school, when her father, a graduate, co-chaired the physics department. Her late mother is buried on the grounds, and she often walks there with her doodle mix, Maud.

"We're going to be against any kind of censorship of books," she said. "The books are our jam, our life."

Write to Scott Calvert at scott.calvert@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 08, 2025 05:30 ET (09:30 GMT)

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