Where Are The Diverse Candidates

[Lisa Steptoe]

Lisa -

We met a few years back at a Diversity Alumni Conference and even before then I knew you and Ron vicariously through your former boss and my good friend Byron Gibson.

I appreciate your passion and commitment to this issue....however....part of your dialogue with Congressman Cummings and others on this issue should focus on improving the 'product' that is offered to prospective diversity candidates.

I am USMA '83 and 3rd gen Army, I have a daughter 14, and twin boys (10). Not only do I have no intention of encouraging any of them to go to a service academy but I would park at Thayer Gate, lock and load my weapon and make sure they never went to school there or any other academy.

This view is held primarily because of my utter disgust with the GWOT farce and the debacle in Iraq. You, me, your husband and many others, were part of rebuilding our military in the post-Vietnam era. That renaissance has been squandered overnight. Not only have we gained nothing for our efforts, we have moved backwards against al-Qeda, in Iraq, Afghanistan and in the readiness of our armed forces. This is inexcusable.

You and I were also taught that the American fighting man and woman deserved the best leadership possible. The leadership from our Cmdr-in-Chief and his direct reports has been A-B-Y-S-M-A-L. You may have seen the attached article in the NYT a couple of weeks back. select.nytimes.com/search/restricted/article?res=F30815FE35550C778EDDAB0994DE404482 Dying for a cause is noble and always will be. This however, is an unconscionable waste for America in general but moreso when the shallow pool of diversity talent is at stake.

Why would or should one of the relatively few 'diversity' kids who can probably go to an Ivy or other top school (probably on a scholarship), chase girls or boys (as appropriate) and in general have a lot more fun and graduate to become something other than cannon fodder for a public that: won't stand shoulder to shoulder with you to defend the country if it does not absolutely have to, does not even want to pay the bill for the military ('no new taxes! blah blah blah') and in 2007 will still cross the street and clutch their purse or wallet when you (a service academy grad) walk by them on the street?

Where did our current 'diversity' leaders go to school? Barak Obama, Ken Chenault, Stanley O'neal, Condi Rice or even Colin Powell for that matter. (For kicks - and a different perspective - read the article on actor Forrest Whitaker in this month's Esquire magazine where he talks about his recruitment by USMA).

I do not think I am bitter, just honest. I believe that honest dialogue leads to honest assessment of an issue and with some luck, resolution. I respect and admire your commitment and know you want to do the right thing. Perhaps my perspective can help a little bit and someday you, the Congressman and others will have to turn back the tide of diversity candidates beating down your door to go to a service academy.

Will Gates

[Lisa Steptoe]

Lisa - your rant is well substantiated.

What you described is not dissimilar to what I experienced as an Out Reach Officer over ten years ago.

I am guilty of not doing my duties. I returned to my home city, NYC a year ago & have note been involved with the Admissions Office.

Please forward me contact details of the NE Out Reach Officer so I can do my part.

Cheers,

Darren J. Sumter

USMA '88

[K Mcpherson Terry 85]

Lisa,

Being the 1st African American Female from the state of Mississippi to graduate from the academy, I feel your pain. The only concern here in this state is that there is no exposure to knowledge about the academy. I've been focused on recruiting for the current industry that I'm end but failed to focus on my alma mater.

I have a 15 year old daughter who could easily get a nomination because of my relationship with both congressmen in my district; however, after reading about LT Perez, I am hesitant about the decision. I don't agree with the fighting in Iraq. I think it's personal with the president and wasn't well thought out.

It's very difficult to recruit for an organization that my lead someone's child to fight a battle that does not set well with my spirit.

Mcpherson '85

[kiopl56]

Lisa

I really feel your pain! I recruited in Outreach 2 years ago, and now, I am at the University of Michigan where Prop 2 just passed. Honestly, I think West Point is getting its fair share of candidates. Unfortuantely, the candidate pool isn't that large!!! It's the school system that's failing these children. Once you consider the 8 or 9 Ivies, the top private schools like Duke, Stanford, MIT, Northwestern, and other top public schools like Michigan, UVA, UNC, the list goes on and on..... Everyone of those schools are hurting for minority applicants. We are competing against the BEST. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention the other Service Academies?

From my recruiting experience, our target population has a SAT score between 950 and 1300. Anything under 950 is hard to get qualified or is unlikely to eventually break the 1000 barrier. Anything over a 1300, the candidate will get into every top school in the country with a full tuition fellowship.

Even with the War on Iraq, we are getting a share of the pie, but a very small share. I do agree that we need to steal share from the other institutions. But....as mention above, the images of the War are all our candidates are familar with these days. There is yet another population of candidates applying to HBCUs on the ROTC scholarship. Although the pool isn't much bigger, that's a potential pool that we can reach if we can convince those youngsters that the Academy offers much more than the HBCUs. I don't know if that's a reality because many of the HBCUs offer minorities a support system that West Point lacks (minority wise).

Well, that's just my thoughts on the topic....

Angelo Adams '01

[CPT SAPPER]

These are all good points. I hope USMA focuses on getting quality candidates regardless of race, ethnicity etc....it shouldn't be about quotas, it should be about getting a young person who wants to serve their nation as an officer. USMA like any other organization needs to have a marketing plan than targets these groups. The war in Iraq, the anti-military media, and people like Senator John Kerry and Charles Rangel and those like him who make statements like if you are poor and uneducated....you get sent to Iraq (obviuosly, focusing comments to minorities and to their anti-war liberal consitiuents) do not help recruitment efforts to Academy or Army enlistment in general. We have nut cases like Cindy Sheehan who are blinded by their tragic loss and have become voiceboxes for anti-American and anti-military setiments. This does not help. We do have a voice. Their are a lot of educated minorities in the enlisted and officer ranks who are serving our nation with distinction. There are many opportunities for those who pursue a military career. The whole nation has not gotten the message, 9-11 seems so long ago. It was our Pearl Harbor so to speak, but since we are not fighting the fight on our home turf, the constant negative media barrage reagrding the war, and the lack of interest has hurt us. The media does not broadcast a lot of the good news stories in Iraq, and there are many. They sure do promote the body count, 3000 dead soldiers....although a great loss, it is not even close to the loss of life experienced in the Civil War or World Wars....I'd say we are doing d**n good. That is probably not politically correct, but the climate in which we live is hurting recruiting efforts I believe across the Army. The Army Strong campaign is better than Army of one, although, it is still cheesy....I always liked be all you can be...perhaps West Point needs to integrate the Army strong campaign with their recruiting efforts. Cadet strong or West Point strong.....and focus on all the minorities who have graduated and become leaders of past and present like Henry O Flipper. Kristen Baker and Gen Robinson, Jr. West Point must lead the charge in getting diverse recruits and quality recruits to grow as an institution and to provide leaders of character for our nation. I think the climate will change when the political climate changes...after we get rid of the anti-war dems and liberals.

[Rick Black]

Lisa,
Thanks for your email. Even if it was a bit of a rant, it did point out the seriousness with which you approach the topic. I for one thank you for your dedication to our alma mater and the cause in general of advancing minority attendance at WP.

I taught at WP for seven semesters from 2002-2006. Obviously that time splits the pre and during GWOT "eras." I really think that factor has only become a really big deal in the last year or so. All of the cadets I saw there seemed committed to the cause, regardless of the name of the current President. I firmly believe they will remain so after 20 January 2009, whoever the next person is to stand on the Capitol steps and take the oath. Having said that though, it is a factor that our recruiters have to deal with out there on the streets, in the high schools, and most importantly now, with the parents. That applies to both USMA and regular Army recruiters.

I think our bigger challenge relating to your email, is finding ways to make WP stand out (and perhaps even stand above) the Ivies, top flight state schools, and other prestigious private schools. We are all competing for the same minorities, especially black males. Several others here have made the point that most kids would pick the "Harvard" well before WP for a multitude of reasons. I contend that this is primarily because of "brand recognition." It will be extremely hard for USMA to overcome 200 years of history in this regard overnight! In fact, the same is true for non-minority candidates, but we don't think about it as much because of the larger numbers of kids in that pool.

In short, I think the answer for now is for each graduate to do what they can, within the limits of their available time and resources, to help out the Admissions force. Simply "blaming" USMA or the Admissions Office, or the war for this problem is a cop out, and a very weak one at that.


BEAT NAVY!!

[Dave Powell]

I aggree with several others in that we need to crack the code with the standardized tests. We have lots of kids who do quite well in the classroom in AP and dual credit courses but perform abysmally on the SAT/ACT. Believe part of the problem is kids wait to take the SAT/ACT too late and discount the PSAT. I've not done or seen any studies to support this but believe that the Admissions Office advice to take the PSAT early and the SAT/ACT early and often works. After all, practice makes perfect. Most school staffs that I am familiar with don't start talking about the PSAT until the 2d semester of the 10th grade and the SAT/ACT until the 2d semester of the 11th grade (or even, ugh!, the 1st semester of the 12th grade).

[James Ramsey]

Lisa,

I feel your pain. For the last two years, I have volunteered my time to interview and give out appointments for the four to five each year that have made it. Since I am a Drilling Reservist, I do not get pay or points for what I do. It's my way of giving back. My purpose was to concentrate on Diversity Candidates, but I have not done a good enough job in getting their interests. Only once have I given an appointment to a candidate that was not White and male. I attended the MALO conference this past year to find out what WP's strategy was to reach the Diversity Candidates. I was not impressed. This is the only category that the Academy is not making its goal. It so happen that during that time was when the Minority Conference was going on at the Academy. I would have loved to go to find out what that group is doing to get more to join. I did get a chance to go to a Gospel Choir rehearsal and talked to the OIC LTC Archie Wilmer and emphasized to him that the choir needs to be disciples for bringing in the Diversity Candidates.

One of the main problems is the African American community in most areas is against the Iraq War/War on Terrorism and do not want their sons and daughters going to a school where they could become a part of it. Plus we are competing with allot of other big time schools that are giving full scholarships to Diversity Candidate that meet our qualifications.I am going to try to commit to going to two of the predominately African American schools in the area during my Annual Training in May to talk to Sophmores and Juniors that are potential candidates. Hopefully more will take on this challenge.

James E. Ramsey
LTC, FA
I-1, USMA 85

[Darrell Peebles 77]

An old string, I know, but still an important one. My daughter, class of '05, will be joining me today at a Delta Sigma theta hosted college fair for HS juniors, here in Korea at the Seoul American High School. We will be representing WP. I'm afraid that my materials are limited, and this was a last second decision, as we both had other plans. gonna give the old 'college' try. Great seeing comments from my homeboy, Archie from Philly, Ed C and Brett L.

Much love to all.

Darrell Peebles, '77