180
MINORITY DEMOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWN: U.S. SERVICE ACADEMIES, CLASS OF 2020 African-American
Asian-American* 122 123 119 Hispanic-American 126 Native American Other**
*Includes Pacif ic Islanders **Figure includes international students and individuals who self-identify as more than one race 129
76 87 14 USMA
Total class size: 1,300 Minorities in class: 439
CLASS USNA
Total class size: 1,177 Minorities in class: 415
[CONTINUED FROM PAGE 64]
ates. Gen. Roscoe Robinson Jr., the first African-American to become a four-star general in the Army, grad- uated from West Point in 1951. Gen. Lloyd Austin, USA (Ret), who grad- uated from West Point in 1975, be- came the first African-American to lead U.S. Central Command in 2013. Adm. Michelle Howard, the Navy’s highest-ever ranking woman and the first African-American woman to command a Navy ship, graduated from the Naval Academy in 1982. In 1989, Col. Frederick Gregory,
USAF (Ret) — who graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1964 — became the first African-American to command a space flight. And Coast Guard Academy graduate Vice Adm. Manson Brown was his service’s highest-ranking black offi- cer when he retired in 2014 follow- ing 36 years in uniform.
Continuing the legacy
Diversity at the military academies leads to better teaching, learning, problem-solving, and organization- al readiness, says Frank DeMaro, a spokesperson at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. “Cadets ... feel valued, and are
inspired to serve at a higher level and want to remain in the Army,” he says. A “diverse officer corps will enable leaders to create environ- ments that are inclusive and repre- sentative of the nation.”
72 MILITARY OFFICER FEBRUARY 2017 4 USAFA
Total class size: 1,095 Minorities in class: 337
Cadets and midshipmen attend- ing the military academies today learn about Bush and the other first black graduates. Those like Bush were pioneers for cultural aware- ness, says Moses Stewart Jr., acting director for culture, climate, and di- versity at the Air Force Academy. Bush’s “advocacy of diversity and inclusion as the first African- American cadet set the standard for our academy, our Air Force, and our nation,” Stewart says. Christopher Howard, a Rhodes scholar who studied business at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., later had the opportunity to meet Bush, who also studied at Harvard. Until his death in 2012, Bush remained committed to help- ing improve diversity at the Air Force Academy. Early in his career, Howard re-
calls receiving a book called Black Americans in Defense of Our Nation, a DoD publication from 1985 that highlighted African-Americans’ military service. The book, which still is in his office, was a great re- source and source of pride, he says. Reading about people like Bush and Gen. Edward Rice, USAF (Ret), who led U.S. Forces Japan and served as head of Air Education and Train- ing Command, had a lasting impact on him. Howard was inspired by Rice, who in the 1970s became the academy’s first black wing com- mander — a position that left him re- sponsible for thousands of cadets.
93 106 12 23 19 26 USCGA
Total class size: 304 Minorities in class: 101
“I thought, ‘Wow, look at this bad
brother. I want to be like him one day,’ ” Howard says. Now that Howard and Spencer
both are in academia, the two have applied many of the diversity lessons they learned during their time at the academy to their current duties. Serv- ing as president of an academic insti- tution is about human development, Howard says. And in the Air Force, he says, airmen “eat, drink, sleep, and breathe” character development. Spencer, now the senior advisor on admissions outreach at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, helped write that institution’s admissions guidelines based on what he learned at the Air Force Academy about find- ing the right students for the program. It helps them look at prospective students in a more well-rounded way, and the applications now allow stu- dents to answer questions in ways that help admissions personnel see “what makes them tick,” says Spencer. It’s important for institutions like the military academies to continue teaching about their diverse legacies — even if the paths weren’t perfect — so everyone understands where they came from, Howard says. “This is important not just for people of color but for all of our ser- vicemembers,” he says. “It builds an appreciation for ... our progress.”
MO
— Gina Harkins is MOAA’s senior staff writer. She can be reached at
ginah@moaa.org.
INFOGRAPHIC: JOHN HARMAN; SOURCES, SERVICE ACADEMIES 33
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