'Moral decision': Naval War College ethics professor says Trump made her job 'untenable'

When Donald Trump narrowly defeated Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in the United States' 2024 presidential election, Pauline Shanks Kaurin considered retiring from her job teaching military ethics at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island — a job she held for seven years. Kaurin, however, opted to stay for the time being. But now, five months into Trump's second presidency, Kaurin is resigning from the Naval War College.

Never Trump conservative Tom Nichols examines Kaurin's decision in an article published by The Atlantic on June 25.

When Kaurin joined the Naval War Academy, Nichols notes, she left a job as a tenured university professor and did so on the condition that she would enjoy "the academic freedom to do my job." And Nichols believes that during Trump's second presidency, she has lost that freedom.

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According to Nichols, Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth "have made staying both morally and practically untenable" for Kaurin.

"Remaining on the faculty, she believes, would mean implicitly lending her approval to policies she cannot support," Nichols explains. "And she said that the kind of teaching and research the Navy once hired her to do will now be impossible."

Kaurin told Nichols, "Academic freedom as many of us understood it was not a thing anymore…. As they say in the military: salute and execute — or resign…. When you make a moral decision, there are always costs."

Kaurin said of Trump ally Russell Vought, who heads the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB), "I'm not accountable to him. I'm accountable to the Lord, to my father, to my legacy, to my children, to my profession, to members of the military-ethics community. So I decided that I needed to resign. Not that it would change anyone's mind, but to say: This is not OK. That is my message."

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Nichols' reporting on Kaurin is generating some responses on X, formerly Twitter.

X user John Thorsson tweeted, "I'd say normally that this could be filled under the law of unintended consequences. But this is exactly the kind of thing this admin wanted."

Another X user, Norine Noonan, posted, "This makes me so very sad for the students who won't get to work with her......and happy that I'm retired from my university."

X user Andrea Etter commented, "Ran into Pauline on Twitter years ago & really admired her work. I hope she finds a soft landing somewhere that allows her the academic freedom she deserves."

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Tom Nichols' full article for The Atlantic is available at this link (subscription required).