Nov 26, 2007 11:32 pm US/Eastern
Naval Academy Commandant Makes History
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ) ―
-
-
Captain Peg Klein is the first woman commandant at the Naval Academy.
Mideast peace talks begin Tuesday at the Naval Academy.
It's the second historic occasion at the academy this year. Earlier, a new commandant took charge and for the first time it is a woman.
Mary Bubala sat down with
Captain Peg Klein for a candid interview about tough new policies and her historic role.
The U.S. Naval Academy is steeped in tradition and lately mired in controversy.
Navy commander Kevin Ronan was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in the brig for secretly taping midshipman having sex in his home. Football star Lamar Owens was expelled over rape charges, which were later dismissed. Midshipman Kenny Ray Morrison was also expelled and locked up for two years for the sexual assault of a midshipman.
As the Naval Academy finds it reputation tarnished by a few, it has placed its future in new hands.
For the first time ever, a woman is in charge. Captain Peg Klein is now commandant of midshipmen.
"I always focus on the 99.5% of the midshipmen who are doing a great job. It's sometimes discouraging to read about the one or two midshipmen in the course of a year who give the academy a bad name in the eyes of the public," Klein said.
Commandant Klein's challenge today is really two decades old. It's the relationship between male and female mids on campus.
Captain Klein graduated from the academy in 1981 with only the second class to include women.
"There were a total of about 160 women when we got here. So we were definitely unique," Klein said.
Now, 20 percent of the 4,400 students in the brigade are women.
On the surface honor and respect are shown, but in a report from the Department of Defense more than 50 percent of women at military training academies across the nation said they had been victims of sexual harassment.
The issue is very much on Commandant Klein's radar.
"I really try to start by educating the midshipmen about respecting others because gender issues are solved if they have respect. Diversity issues are solved if they have respect for each other," she said.
The Naval Academy is now addressing its most serious issues with tough new policies. Midshipmen must take classes on preventing sexual harassment and assault.
The classes begin when midshipmen arrive during their plebe summer with instruction in reporting sexual harassment. By their fourth year, midshipmen are being schooled in the legal issues surrounding sexual misconduct.
"Moral development is what I am tasked with and so on a daily basis what I am doing, what my staff is doing, is advancing that cause," Klein said.
Another cause is advanced with just the commandant's presence--the role of women in military leadership positions. Captain Klein says her daughter is applying to the academy next year.
She has high hopes for the midshipmen.
"I have had a really fulfilling career. I really hope for them to be as fulfilled in their careers as I have been in mine. That might sound corny, but it's very sincere," Klein said.
It's a big week at the Naval Academy, culminating with the Army-Navy game. It's returning to Baltimore for the first time in seven years.
This Saturday, don't miss our special Army-Navy celebration from 9 a.m.-noon. Then, it is the big game. The 108th meeting between Army and Navy will be live right here on
WJZ.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Reporting
