Whistle Pig

Guest Column: The cost of a diverse Naval Academy • Opinion (www.HometownAnnapolis.com - The Capital)

14 June 2009

This risks riling the Advisory Board and taxpayers as it comes into the light.

kp2001

why does this seem like a repeat of something I have read in the past. Hasn't this professor written something very similar in the past 2-3 years.....maybe it was about athletic admissions?

Granny

No school is doing anyone a favor by letting them in when they cannot succeed. I have been told that a minority fifty points down on a section of the SAT will "catch up" by the end of college so there is no problem there. And while I do agree that our military services need officers who "look like" the population, careful and good recruiting can find those who will fit in acdemically. Check Georgia Tech.

Whistle Pig

So right! and what that means, presumably, is USNA now must get much bigger into the retention game. And that is big $$. So if Prof. Fleming is portraying a genuine situation, and there would be absolutely no easily conceivable reason to think he'd be doing anything but, regardless of his motives, either staying-in standards'll have to change rather dramatically ... or the 2 level standards will become commonplace. And if this is the case, it will merely indicate that the standards long established for USNA performance were bogus, over-baked, unnecessary.

The much greater issue of addressing the USN goal though is the one that no one seems to be considering ...ROTC, OTC, and other non-USNA commissioning programs. After all, that's where most of the USN officers come from.

And lastly, none are asking or answering WHY the officer corps needs to reflect the enlisted body. After all, with a relatively few, notable exceptions, few among the enlisted ranks become commissioned officers. Can anyone shed light on this? Seems to suggest that an officer of any one of several ethnic backgrounds is implicitly more able to lead others.

grad/dad

This type of article disturbs me. I know too many of these so called unqualified minority USNA students that have been extremely successful Marine Corps and Naval officers. The key is not your GPA, SAT scores and class standing in HIGH SCHOOL. It is to graduate and gain your commission and the ability to "connect" with your subordinates as a leader and to gain their confidence. How many people has Prof Fleming ever led, let alone led into Harm's Way. For someone so unhappy with the government system, he seems happy taking a government paycheck for the last 22 years. And for the parents and others who do not have first hand experience with the Naval Academy or in the fleet, do not be too quick to jump on the bandwagon. Also, there are many officers besides those commissioned, such as Warrant Officers and Limited Duty officers who are all former enlisted and all play a prominent role in our Marine Corps and Naval services.

NorthernCalMother

Before you give Professor Fleming too much credence, read his book, "Annapolis Autumn." He describes Midshipman the way I would describe zombies, rants about the absence of intellectual curiosity in the entire Brigade, and lovingly describes his own "guns" (biceps) as the way he earns the respect of students @ the USNA gym. Fleming has published several articles on various Academy topics -- topics w/ little common thread except, it seems, an intent to draw attention to himself and stir up controversy. One wonders why he continues to teach there.

navy2010

Anyone familiar with Fleming’s work will clearly recognize this as classic Fleming. Same criticism of the academy, same "marginal set asides," although a shift from the usual focus on blue-chip athletes and minorities, to monitories alone. Interesting.

A decade ago the focus was on increasing women. Mission accomplished. Now the focus is on increasing minorities. Being directly involved in that recruitment effort, I would be dishonest in saying I have my concerns. IMO, it should be the “best of the best," regardless of color. But I am not at the helm, nor have I served in any military capacity. I can no more speak as to what is needed than Fleming. But what I can say is that I seek out the best.

I now cover schools that in years passed, were not on the radar screen. I look for, and want, the top of the class. My job: "to interest the qualified, not qualify the interested." I take that seriously.

The concern of all involved is to make sure the standards set at USNA, academically, militarily and professionally, are not diluted or eroded. There are many keeping their fingers on that pulse. I trust that Adm Fowler knows what is needed and how to accomplish it. Time will tell.

I will also add that, as far as I know, the Board of Visitors is on-board with this effort.

Luigi59

Professor Fleming sits on the USNA Admissions Board.

Direct Inside Information -- not possessed by anyone else on this web site.

Unless another member of the USNA Admissions Board comes forward to print a rebuttal to his writings, Professor Fleming's insights into the inner workings of the Board FAR exceed those of any BGO, parent, current mid, or graduate/alumni.

He is telling you exactly how it works, he is telling you that race plays a major part in USNA admissions decisions regarding borderline applicants, yet you continue to doubt him?

I have no bias toward or against the USNA, unlike a BGO, parent, mid, or grad. So I take Professor Fleming's account of what happens on the inside of the USNA admissions process seriously, I don't have a pre-conceived prejudice against him because of some article he has written in the past--on the contrary, I have read his work in the past and have yet to find any credible evidence to discount it. Despite the BGOs/parents/mids/grads not liking his previous conclusions, I don't remember anyone proving him to be a liar.

As navy2010 alluded to, increasing the size of the qualified minority applicant pool should be the way to do it. And I'm pretty sure the USNA is increasing those efforts as well.

But lowering the qualification standards should not be the answer to the Naval Academy's (nor any of the service academy's) diversity dilemma.

Unfortunately, the only voice we are hearing from the inside of the Admissions Board says the USNA is doing exactly that -- lowering the bridge instead of raising the water.

NorthernCalMother

Read Professor Fleming's essay carefully. He says, in part, "It means applicants checked a box on their application that says they are Hispanic, African American, Native American, and now, since my time on the Admissions Board of the Academy, where I've taught for 22 years, Asians."

In other words, when he sat on the Admissions Board, Asians were not considered a minority. How long ago was that? I seem to recall from his book that he sat on the Admissions Board years ago, was unhappy w/ the experience, and either elected not to return or was not invited back.

I do not believe he sits on the Board now.

Shiloh

Very disturbing perspective on admissions at USNA. Anecdotal, feel good stories about life in the fleet are wonderful but geez with the possible Chinese threat increasing momentum I just want the best damn officers the Navy can get it's hands on - regardless.

The Navy's job is to protect the USA and defeat/intimidate enemies.

AF6872

"being an O-3 makes up for a lack of professional qualifications in the classroom"

"the genesis and illustration of my point is my life as a Liberal English professor in the conservative military world of the U.S. Naval Academy"

"this Liberal man, trying to teach largely conservative students to appreciate life's grey areas"

Just a few quotes from the professor and his reviews. He was Admission Board 2002 as per Washington Post. I want Rawanda on my resume. God Bless Tenure.

keydet

It's not much of a secret that there has been a relaxing of the standards to allow Athletes, minorities etc... into the academies. But really- SO WHAT? The standard such as it is (and the reality is that there is no standard but there is a norm that most Mids/Cadets fall into for SAT performance etc) is an arbitrary number to winnow the field down to a reasonable number. But is the academic prowess of an 18-21year old much of a measurement of whether someone will be "the best damn officers the Navy can get its hands on?" No I don't believe it is. Correlating admissions criteria to success is pretty tenuous and lots of other factors weigh into the future success of any undergraduate institution which skews an anlysis of performance to begin with- (for example the relative mass of alumni in any one field is at least as high a determinant in succeeding as any other factor. So to generalize- the "best" students go to the Ivy Leagues and then get the "best jobs" etc... but is that becaseu they are the "best" or because we promote those who are in the same mold that we came from?)
It's only been relatively recently that USNA (and the others) have attempted to emulate the Ivy Leagues in who they see as their pool of applicants. Is the country better off for having academies that would have rejected Bull Halsey, John S McCain (any one of the 3 of them) George Patton, Mathew Ridgeway etc...? No. What the takeaway from a discussion of this article should be is to reinforce that there are a lot of arbitrary measurements that simply are unrelated or only marginally related to the mission of the Academies. Athletes have been getting a bye forever, yet once they graduate are they any less successful as combat leaders because as undergraduates they were somewhat less academically prepared in many cases than their peers? No.
Grad/Dad is dead on. Success for the Service Academies is how well they prepare their graduates to lead others into harms way, and some arbitrary academic qualification is not the sole or even a principal determinant of future success. USNA/USMA etc... all do that pretty well- and not because of some SAT score and class rank in HS- but because they inculcate their graduates with a sense of duty, sacrifice and honor. So who cares if USNA has a student pool that is basically restricted to the top 5% of the HS class in terms of test scores and class rank as long as it gets leaders who can lead the USN and the USMC in the conflicts of the future.


"And if this is the case, it will merely indicate that the standards long established for USNA performance were bogus, over-baked, unnecessary."

AF6872

Where is it "no secret" that there has been a relaxing of the standards for Athletes, minorities etc...? What is your definition of etc.? Women, Chinese, Koreans, Irish, Italians, Sufis, Japanese, Portugese and/or any other sociological definition? You are stating that anyone not fitting your definition of an accepted "normal" group has been given preferential treatment. BS. Check your history. The Acadamies have favorably competed with the Ivys for centuries and continue to do so. Yale received twenty one thousand applications last year and accepted just over two thousand. The Naval Academy had over fifteen thousand five hundred and accepted approximately one thousand two hundred. Some of those accepted by the idividual institutions applied to both.

By the way Patton was fluent in three languages and an Olympic athelete. I don't know about Halsey, McCain and Ridgeway but I doubt any top tier school would have rejected them if they could have paid the frieght (not McCain). You are talking about colleges for most of these guys in the twentys and thirties. There were'nt a lot they could afford or anyone could afford. If you went to an Ivy in those days your dad owned a railroad or a bank and had a summer home in Newport. It was probably harder for them to get into college than for anyone today.

JustAMomOf4

I think this is the point. Patton was turned back and took 5 years to get through West Point.
Fleming thinks that every midshipman should be a Rhodes Scholar. The academies don't exist to produce Rhodes Scholars (though a few every year is good PR). They exist to produce Military officers. I have never seen one study that showed a correlation to class rank and success as a military officer. This has been discussed for decades.
The book "The Long Gray Line" by Rick Atkinson highlighting the class of 1966 discussed class rank and Army success. There were several accounts of low ranking cadets who made excellent Army officers.

AF6872

Patton:

VMI one year. Deficient in Mathematics first year at WP. Repeated first year with honors and appointed Cadet Adjutant. Not stupid just young.