The U. S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md.,
has adopted a new policy that favors lesser qualified candidates for
senior-level midshipman leadership positions, according to a Naval
Academy source.
Before the policy shift was instituted last month, senior-level
midshipmen -- called "stripers" because of the greater number of stripes
on their uniform denoting higher ranking and seniority -- who were
seeking these semester-long leadership positions were required to
volunteer and endure a series of boards (tests) in order to be chosen.
The competition for the positions is "typically intense," said the
source, adding that "performance records and grades [are] one of the
most important factors in selection," and that only the most qualified,
regardless of any other considerations, were given these positions of
leadership.
The source, who requested anonymity, told WorldNetDaily that the
Naval Academy was in the process of holding selection boards for next
semester. Instead of choosing from the "highly qualified midshipmen"
who sought the positions, the Academy leadership chose to institute the
new policy "because they did not like, in general, the type of
midshipmen who had gone up for selection," said the source.
Specifically, he said, Academy officials "felt that the midshipmen
who wanted the jobs did not adequately represent the Academy in terms of
race and gender."
The United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. |
The source said women "are over-represented in these positions," a
fact that is "partially explained" because women are "typically" in the
top 10 percent of each class, "a ranking based solely on performance and
grades."
However, as a result of the apparent policy shift, the source said,
"many [midshipmen] who applied for the leadership striper positions will
not be considered while many who did not want to be high-level stripers
will be forced into those positions." And that policy, the source
added, "will be in place from now on with the stated primary objective
of representing the academy appropriately."
When WorldNetDaily contacted the U.S. Naval Academy's Public Affairs
Office, spokesman Cdr. Mike Brady vehemently denied that the school
chose leaders "on anything less than qualification and achievement."
However, the source said that as late as this week, senior midshipmen
gave briefings to their brigades during morning and afternoon meal
formations verifying and defining the new policy.
And, a memo supplied to WorldNetDaily to all brigade members, which
was apparently authored by Colonel Schlaich (a Marine Corps colonel,
alumni of the school and the school's deputy commandant) confirmed at
least part of the source's information.
According to the memo, which Schlaich wrote to address "rumors" about
the policy shift, academy students were told, "Apparently what started
these rumors was my decision to interview more candidates than were
originally forwarded by the Battalion Officers."
While saying that "no one was dropped" from consideration in the
striper promotions, Schlaich said he simply "wanted to ensure that the
Midshipmen included in the process were representative of the entire
Brigade."
"Accordingly," the memo continued, "Battalion Officers were told they
could nominate additional candidates after validating qualifications at
the battalion level. I desired a broader spectrum of candidates that
included varsity athletes, minorities, and midshipmen with 'average'
CQPRs (cumulative quality point ratings)."
The deputy commandant added that he would not recommend for promotion
anyone "who is not qualified," and that there were "no quotas or
percentages" he was attempting to meet.
Brady confirmed to WorldNetDaily that Schlaich had written the
clarification memo, but emphasized "there is nothing new" in the way
stripers are selected for leadership positions.
However, senior midshipmen who briefed brigade members contradicted
Schlaich's memo, the source said.
"At the evening meal formation our company commander (a first class
midshipman) informed (everyone) of the policy change ... including the
fact that the change was made for the sole purpose of increasing
diversity and that this was an open and official policy," the source
said.
Furthermore, the source indicated, "while selections had not yet been
made, some of those who might have been considered were no longer to be
considered."
On Monday, the source said, the brigade commander, also a first class
midshipman, verified for students "at the evening meal formation" that a
"new policy" was in effect, and that "the purpose of the policy was to
make stripers more 'representative of the brigade.'"
"He stated that instead of selecting the most qualified midshipmen,
they would examine all qualified midshipmen and make selections from
this pool in order to maximize diversity. He explained that there would
be no removals from the list of applicants, only additions. He also
explained that 'diversity' related not only to race and gender but also
to considerations such as varsity athletes, non-athletes and grades,"
the source told WorldNetDaily.
"They want some midshipmen who are only average performers instead of
just the stellar performers that typically win these posts," said the
source. "In this sense, performance is still a consideration under the
new policy."
The source said that the goal of revealing the policy change was not
to hurt the Naval Academy, which has a long tradition of turning out
some of the world's best Naval and Marine Corps officers. Rather, he
said, "it is just that I think the public that pays for our education
has a right to know what is happening here."
Striper promotion policies "have always been performance-based,"
Brady told WND, adding that school officials were merely interested in
"opening the aperture and include more people to be considered - not
selected - but considered for possible selection."
The public affairs officer said officials "didn't want to leave-out"
candidates who may be below standard in academics but above the fray in
athletics and other performance-based skills, or vice versa.
"The commandant doesn't want to leave out an athlete that has the
respect of his teammates, good leadership qualities, good professional
grades, but he's carrying a 2.5 grade point average because he doesn't
do well in physics or calculus as well as some of his classmates," said
Brady.
Though he "didn't know" if such candidates were kept out of
consideration "in previous years," Brady said it appeared as though
school officials "weren't satisfied that enough people were nominated
and that there were people who could be good leaders but weren't thrown
into the mix for consideration."
Acknowledging that there may be a communications problem down the
chain-of-command, Brady said the school's inclusive approach to striper
promotions had no element of political concern.
"We haven't been given a directive to be more inclusive, definitely
not," he said.
Established in 1845, the Naval Academy is the undergraduate college
for the Navy that prepares young men and women to become professional
officers in the U. S. Navy and Marine Corps.