The Naval Academy enrolled women 50 years ago. It’s not celebrating.

The U.S. Naval Academy marked 30 years, then 40 years of enrolling women with celebrations and fanfare. But on Monday, its 50th anniversary of coeducation, the Annapolis military college is doing nothing.

Academy officials weren’t involved in a 950-person April gala hosted by the alumni association. An academy spokesperson wouldn’t say whether the institution would mark the milestone.

The silence irks some female graduates who believe it’s the latest sign of President Donald Trump’s influence on the armed forces.

“It is a slap in the face to our service and our history,” said retired Navy Capt. Catherine Maser, a 1989 alum. “The saddest part is the missed opportunity for the midshipmen, particularly the female midshipmen, to meet and learn from the trailblazers.”

The Naval Academy has made a number of headline-grabbing changes since Trump issued an executive order last year that prohibits “preference based on race or sex.” It ended affirmative action, briefly pulled nearly 400 books on race and gender from the campus library and purged half its board. Faculty were also told last year to avoid teaching about “divisive topics” such as systemic racism and sexism.

Then, last summer, its first female superintendent, Vice Adm. Yvette Davids, was suddenly reassigned.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who oversees the nation’s military colleges, said in a November 2024 podcast that the military “should not have women in combat roles.” He launched a review in February.

In a statement to The Banner, Lt. Cmdr. Kara Handley, a public affairs officer for the academy, said “we are proud of our U.S. Naval Academy alumni and are grateful for their service to the nation.”

She referred questions about 50th anniversary celebrations to the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association, a separate organization.

John Schofield, the association’s executive director of communications, said the Naval Academy was not involved in planning the event, but Superintendent Lt. Gen. Michael Borgschulte was present at a dinner the night before the gala. Borgschulte was not in his Marine uniform, he said.

“As the former public affairs officer [at the academy], I believe that they handled everything within the confines of the executive order and in a way that honored the women since 1980,” Schofield said.

Retired Lt. Linda Postenrieder, who graduated in 1982 and is president of USNA Women, an interest group within the alumni association, said it was a heavy lift for her nascent group, which began in 2017, to put on this year’s event. But it felt important to show how far women in the academy have come.

“As things became clear and there were directives limiting the academy — we saw our role,” she said.

Retired Cmdr. Janie Mines, the first Black woman to graduate from the academy in 1980, said she had never heard so many women singing “Navy Blue & Gold,” until the April celebration.

“It sounded like angels,” she said.

Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen and U.S. Rep. Sarah Elfreth, who serve on the academy’s Board of Visitors, aren’t pleased about the decision not to celebrate the coeducation milestone. Van Hollen said the academy’s history “should be celebrated, not shunned.”

“The history of the United States Naval Academy is not complete without the women of the Naval Academy,” he said. “What’s more, ensuring that the Naval Academy reflects the diversity and talents of all Americans is critical to its strength and success.”

Elfreth, who represents Annapolis, said it was “shameful that, on the 250th anniversary of our country, the Trump administration is looking for any excuse to suppress the diverse stories of women that have shaped our nation for the better.”

For the 30th anniversary, the women were celebrated during their reunion. And for the 40th the academy held multiple events, bringing back graduates from the first coed class to speak with current students, hosting a special museum exhibition and inviting media to attend special panels and speaker events.

The Banner interviewed nearly a dozen alumni about the academy’s decision not to celebrate the 50th anniversary. Many said they feel slighted by the academy’s apparent nonchalance.

Former Lt. Cmdr. Shannon McClain, who graduated in 1998, said it hurt not even to be acknowledged at the academy’s spring parade, which occurred at the same time as the gala.

Retired Lt. Col. Anthony Verducci, president of the first coed class, said it’s impossible to tell the history of the academy without talking about the first class of graduates to include women. His classmate Marjorie Morley Bachman, one of the first female graduates, said she’s “incredibly disappointed” that the academy chose not to celebrate the milestone.

But retired Cmdr. Kathy Slevin Clore, also from the first coed class, said she understands the decision. She spent her 20-year career in the Navy refusing to be defined by her gender.

A self-described “reluctant pioneer,” Slevin Core said being a woman at the academy made her a target. Her peers once wrote “Hang it up, bitch” in a women’s bathroom stall, and at another point a male student pinned her against a wall and covered her mouth.

“I never want to be known as a woman midshipman,” she said. “My identity is as a midshipman.”

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