Three weeks before they will induct a fresh batch of plebes, officials at the U.S. Naval Academy expect their Class of 2013 to include far more minorities than any class in the institution's 164-year history.
The class of about 1,200 will include 435 minorities, up 33 percent from the previous year's class, which had the most minorities until now, according to figures unveiled yesterday at the academy's Board of Visitors meeting. The academy received 57 percent more applications from minorities than in the previous year, part of a 41 percent increase in overall applications.
Vice Adm. Jeffrey Fowler, the academy's superintendent, attributed the rise largely to intensified recruiting efforts in areas that have traditionally sent few applicants to the academy. Fowler cited a new graphic novel about the academy experience, a science, math and technology camp for middle-schoolers and the academy's summer seminar for prospective applicants as examples of more innovative marketing.
"This is an effort that has been going on for years, but the results are really starting to pick up," Fowler told the board. "If the academy looks more like America, it's in all of our interests."
U.S. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, a board member, praised the academy's determination to "tear down every wall" and find students that remind him of himself.
"You're looking for me," he said, alluding to his ascent from a humble background. "And I want to thank you for going out and finding me."
Cummings said he has invited academy officials to a congressional hearing so they can provide advice to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, where minority recruitment has lagged. He was sharply critical of the Coast Guard Academy's minority recruitment, calling it "atrocious."
The recession is probably a factor in the application boom, because the Naval Academy can offer technological training and job security that are hard to come by in the private sector. But the increases in total and minority applications are well ahead of those at other service academies. "So in our unscientific approach, we take that to mean that the economy wasn't that significant a factor in our increase," said Dean of Admissions Stephen B. Latta.
While the U.S. Military Academy in New York and the Air Force Academy in Colorado say their data are not complete for this year's incoming class, officials at both schools said minorities made up about 22 percent of admissions for the Class of 2012, compared with 28 percent at the Naval Academy.
