United States Naval Academy

The **United States Naval Academy** (also known as **USNA**, **Annapolis**, or **Navy**) is a four-year coeducational federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Secretary of the Navy George Bancroft began it in 1845. It is the second-oldest of the United States' five service academies. It educates officers mostly to join the United States Navy and Marine Corps. The  campus is on the former grounds of Fort Severn where the Severn River flows into Chesapeake Bay. It is about  east of Washington, D.C. and  southeast of Baltimore, Maryland. The entire campus is a National Historic Landmark. The campus has many historic sites, buildings, and monuments. One monument is the Herndon Monument, once a year the upper three classes add grease and challenge the freshmen to reach the tip (usually unsuccessfully).

Candidates for admission generally must both apply directly to the academy and receive a nomination, usually from a congressman. The candidates lacking in academics can potentially receive a nomination to the Naval Academy Preparatory School located in Newport, Rhode Island. Students are officers-in-training and are called _Midshipmen_. The Navy pays for the Midshipmen's college expenses in exchange for the students serving in the military upon graduation. About 1,300 _plebes_ enter the Academy each summer for the orientation program, this class consists of not only high school students but also enlisted Sailors and Marines. Only about 1,000 Midshipmen graduate after the four years.  Graduates are usually commissioned as Ensigns in the Navy or Second Lieutenants in the Marine Corps, and occasionally as officers in the US Air Force, US Army, and U.S. Coast Guard. The academic program grants a bachelor of science degree. Midshipmen get grades on a broad academic program, military leadership performance, and mandatory participation in competitive athletics. Midshipmen are required to adhere to the Academy's Honor Concept.

On 3 June 1949 Wesley A. Brown became the first African-American to graduate. On 8 August 1975, Congress authorized women to attend service academies. The class of 1980 was inducted with 81 women midshipmen.

## Sports

Annapolis has a very broad sports program. All students must play at least one sport each semester, either at intramural (within the school) or intercollegiate (against other schools) level.

The intercollegiate sports teams are known as the Navy Midshipmen. Most of the Academy's teams play in the Patriot League. The football team plays at the top level, known as Division I FBS, in the American Athletic Conference.

## Bibliography

- Gelfand, H. Michael. _Sea Change at Annapolis: The United States Naval Academy, 1949–2000_ U of North Carolina Press, 2006
- Hunter, Mark C. _A Society of Gentlemen: Midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy, 1845–1861_. Naval Institute Press, 2010. 264 pp.
- Karsten, Peter. _The Naval Aristocracy: The Golden Age of Annapolis and the Emergence of Modern American Navalism._ Free Press, 1972. 462 pp.
- Leeman, William P. _The Long Road to Annapolis: The Founding of the Naval Academy and the Emerging American Republic_ (University of North Carolina Press; 2010) 292 pages
- Ross MacKenzie. _Brief Points: An Almanac for Parents and Friends of U.S. Naval Academy Midshipmen_ (2004)
- Scharf, J. Thomas. _History of the Confederate States Navy: From its Organization to the Surrender of its Last Vessel._ New York: Rogers and Sherwood, 1887; repr. The Fairfax Press, 1977.
- Todorich, Charles. _The Spirited Years: A History of the Antebellum Naval Academy._ Naval Institute Press, 1982. 215 pp.

## Other websites

- Official website
- Official Athletics (including club sports) website
- Official Navy Midshipmen website
- Regulations of the US Naval Academy 1907

## Infobox (nrhp)

- **embed**: yes
- **name**: U.S. Naval Academy
- **nrhp type**: nhld
- **nocat**: yes
- **location**: Maryland Ave. and Hanover St., Annapolis, Maryland
- **locmapin**: Maryland#USA
- **architect**: Ernest Flagg
- **engineer**: Severud Associates
- **architecture**: Beaux Arts
- **added**: 15 October 1966
- **governing body**: Federal
- **refnum**: 66000386
- **designated nrhp type**: 4 July 1961


## Infobox (university)

- **name**: United States Naval Academy
- **image**: USNA Gold Seal.png
- **image upright**: 0.8
- **mottoeng**: From Knowledge, Seapower
- **type**: United States service academies, U.S. service academy
- **academic affiliations**: Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, APLU
- **superintendent**: VADM Walter E. Carter Jr.
USNA Class of 1981
- **head label**: Commandant of Midshipmen
- **head**: CAPT Robert B. Chadwick II
USNA Class of 1991
- **dean**: Andrew T. Phillips
- **faculty**: 510
- **students**: 4,576 midshipmen
- **city**: Annapolis, Maryland, Annapolis
- **state**: Maryland
- **country**: United States
- **campus**: Urban –
- **colors**: Navy blue  and gold
- **nickname**: Navy Midshipmen, Midshipmen
- **sporting affiliations**: NCAA Division I – Patriot League
American Athletic Conference
Collegiate Sprint Football League, CSFL Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges, EARC Eastern Intercollegiate Gymnastics League, EIGL Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association, EIWA
- **mascot**: Bill the Goat