The Council of Class Presidents, the Naval Academy Foundation’s Board of Directors, and the Naval Academy Alumni Association’s Board of Trustees all met the week of October 23rd in our brand new Alumni Center. This is the first time that all three of these organizations met in a single week, in a coordinated fashion. Amazingly, it was not four days of ‘Death by PowerPoint’ and was actually very informative and allowed the two Boards to carry on the work of the Alumni Association and Foundation.
Here are some highlights of what was discussed and learned:
A. Probably most important to those on this site is:
NAAA Gouge:
The stadium is going to see new construction soon: 2 new permanent entertainment spaces where the tents are on the concourse level at the square end of the stadium (to the right looking from the Navy side of the stadium.) The ’53 pavilion under the scoreboard on the other end of the stadium will be rebuilt into a new dining pavilion that can seat up to 700 people for dinner. This may end up being where we have our 50th Reunion dinner.
A new lacrosse center is going to be built next to the soccer building, just across from the midstore parking lot. Funding for this is almost secured.
A new aquatics center, a new mini ‘club level’ at the baseball stadium, and a second golf course on Greenbury Point are in the conceptual stage. Right now, they are nothing more than architectural renderings.
B. Moving right along:
Alumni Association news:
In case you haven't heard, the Alumni Association recently completed a new Strategy for 2030. The most important product of this effort is the new mission of the Alumni Association:
We strengthen our member’s bonds to the Academy and to each other, to help them thrive as leaders, in and out of uniform, and reach their full potential.
In summary, it’s about helping our Alumni from I-Day through their professional lives in uniform and then afterwards in their civilian careers and retirement. Please note, it is not “raise money in support of the Naval Academy”, that is the mission of the Naval Academy Foundation (more below.) Implementing the new strategy will result in a re-built Alumni Association that is more focused on fulfilling the mission and will CONNECT, COMMUNICATE and SUPPORT our alumni.
Foundation news:
The financial strength of the enterprise, the Alumni Association and the Foundation, is solid. The new Alumni Center is ‘paid for’ and the annual lease of the land from the Navy will be met by our support to the Naval Academy. We have a good balance sheet. Our last campaign raised over $500M, much of which is already directed to USNA programs, and we are now starting to launch a new capital campaign. Unlike previous campaigns where the funds raised were applied directly to programs, we are exploring how to start building an endowment for long term support in parallel to in-year fund raising and spending.
Naval Academy Gouge:
There is a considerable amount of construction and renovation going on in the Yard.
- The seawall between the sailing center and Triton Light is being rebuilt as the first stage of creating a defense against sea level rise. If we do nothing the midstore parking lot will flood at every normal high tide in starting in about 30 years. Currently, a nor-easter or tropical storm results in the roads around Hospital Point and Farragut Field being flooded and the fields being islands. The NAAA’s new offices almost flooded last year.
- Another major construction project is the complete overhaul of Macdonough Hall. It was completely gutted and is scheduled to be completed in spring 2025. Mahan Hall is swathed in scaffolding while its masonry is repointed to prevent rain leaking inside.
- Bancroft Hall is scheduled to be overhauled one wing at a time starting in the next few years. It will take about 10-20 years to complete.
2023’s Service assignment is complete, 80-85% of the mids received their first choice. 768 went Navy, 260 went to the Marine Corps. The full press release is here:
https://www.usna.edu/NewsCenter/2022/11/NAVAL_ACADEMY_CLASS_OF_2023_OBTAIN_CAREER_ASSIGNMENTS.php
As you might be aware, there is a lawsuit pending against the Naval Academy that alleges unfair admissions practices. This suit is being brought by the same group (one person, actually) who won a similar suit against other universities at the Supreme Court. The service academies were specifically not a part of the Court’s decision. I believe that this new suit will fail on the facts. Specifically, the Naval Academy does not give ‘points’ to nominees in order to achieve a certain percentage of men/women, and races. The demographics of the incoming classes almost exactly match that of the applicants – no one group moves ahead or behind during the selection process.
The Columbarium, the final resting place of many alumni and some of our classmates, will be moved, eventually. The access road floods 3-4 times a month. The joke around the yard is that the lowest row of niches is being reserved for submariners. Two new columbariums are to be built, using private funds. One on the hill above the existing one and then a second larger one on the slope overlooking the aircraft collection near gate 8. The existing one will move there.
USNA has a new Provost, Dr. Samara Firebaugh, who has been at USNA for over 20 years. Yes, she’s the daughter of RADM Firebaugh from NAVSEA. She’s very dynamic and I expect great things under her watch. For instance, a new initiative is that foreign exchange semesters will be open to engineering majors as well. This naval architect applauds that, I would have loved a semester at the University College London studying naval arch.
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