DEOMI News Highlights
DEOMI News Highlights is a weekly compilation of published items and commentary with a focus on equal
opportunity, equal employment opportunity, diversity, culture, and human relations issues. DEOMI News
Highlights is also a management tool intended to serve the informational needs of equity professionals and
senior DOD officials in the continuing assessment of defense policies, programs, and actions. Further
reproduction or redistribution for private use or gain is subject to original copyright restrictions.
Americans are becoming more tolerant of many religious groups, survey finds [Weston Williams,
The Christian Science Monitor, 15 February 2017]
 According to a Pew Research study released Wednesday, Americans have been warming up to other
religious groups across the United States, even compared to a relatively recent study released by the
nonpartisan research center.
 The randomly selected telephone survey asked 4,248 adults to rate each group on a “feeling
thermometer,” where 0 degrees reflected the coldest, most negative possible rating and 100 degrees
reflected the warmest, most positive rating. The coolest overall ratings were fairly neutral on the
scale—48 and 50 toward Muslims and atheists, respectively—but were a significant step up from a
2014 survey that rated the groups at a chillier 40 and 41 degrees.
 According to Pew, there does seem to be a relationship between favorable feeling for a religious
group and knowing someone from that denomination. For people who knew a Muslim, for example,
the average thermometer rating for Muslims overall was 56 degrees. But for people who did not know
a Muslim, that average was 42 degrees. And 45 percent of people who took the 2017 survey said they
know a Muslim, compared with only 38 percent who knew a Muslim in 2014.
Americans are becoming more tolerant of many religious groups, survey finds
Group Seeks Removal of Religious Posters at Air Force Base [Oriana Pawlyk, Military.com, 15
February 2017]
 An advocacy group has filed a complaint with the Air Force Inspector General’s Office seeking the
removal of religious-themed posters at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia.
 Mikey Weinstein, president and founder of The Military Religious Freedom Foundation, said his
organization opposes displaying the posters at Air Combat Command facilities on the installation
because they’re “sexist, offensive” and use male-dominated and faith-based speech.
 One poster, located in Building 602, depicts lights beaming upward where the Twin Towers once
stood before the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and reads: “Men cannot live without faith except for brief
moments of anarchy or despair. Faith leads to convictions—and convictions lead to action. It is only a
man of deep convictions, a man of deep faith, who will make the sacrifices needed to save his
manhood.” The line is quoted from AF Manual 50-21, dated August 1955.
Group Seeks Removal of Religious Posters at Air Force Base
A Year In, No Female SEAL Applicants, Few for SpecOps [Hope Hodge Seck, Military.com, 15
February 2017]
 A little more than 12 months after training pipelines for previously closed elite special operator jobs
opened to women, the U.S. military has yet to see its first female Navy SEAL or Green Beret.
 The component commanders for each of the service special operations commands say they’re ready to
integrate female operators into their units, but it’s not yet clear when they’ll have the opportunity.
 Rear Adm. Tim Szymanski, head of Naval Special Warfare Command, which includes the elite
SEALs and other Navy special operations units, noted that the enlisted training pipeline for SEALs is
two-and-a-half years from start to end, meaning a female applicant who began the process now
wouldn’t join a team until nearly 2020.
A Year In, No Female SEAL Applicants, Few for SpecOps
17 February 2017
Page 1
DEOMI News Highlights
Culture
Knoxville soldier who defied Nazis nominated for Congressional Gold Medal
Orange County’s newest museum gives voice to silent war heroes
Russian video raises alarm: New IS damage in Syria’s Palmyra
Yale renames Calhoun College because of historical ties to White supremacy and slavery
Discrimination
Washington court rules against florist who refused flowers for gay wedding
Diversity
Carol Moseley Braun: African-American heroes are a part of a vanishing World War I legacy
Intrepid African American Soldiers Broke Barriers, Paved the Way
‘Red Tail’ Pilot Shares Experience of Two Wars
Sorting the Mail, Blazing a Trail: African-American Women in World War II
Women reach new heights in state legislatures
A Year In, No Female SEAL Applicants, Few for SpecOps
Miscellaneous
Appearance standards change
Chem-Bio Threats Still Overrule Army Beards
‘The Few, The Proud’ on hold as Marine recruiting slogan
Religion
Americans are becoming more tolerant of many religious groups, survey finds
Group Seeks Removal of Religious Posters at Air Force Base
The only Buddhist chaplain in the Department of the Navy
‘Telephone terrorism’ has rattled 48 Jewish centers. Is anyone paying attention?
Sexism
It’s 2017, and girls still don’t think they are as smart as boys, research shows
Sexual Assault/Harassment
Air Force general lashes back at sex charges, brands accuser a liar
17 February 2017
Page 2
Culture
http://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/politics/2017/02/13/knoxville-soldier-who-defied-nazisnominated-congressional-gold-medal/97871366/
Knoxville soldier who defied Nazis nominated for
Congressional Gold Medal
By Michael Collins
USA TODAY NETWORK–Tennessee, February 13, 2017
United States Army Master Sgt. Roddie Edmonds of Knoxville in an
undated photo. (Photo: Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial/AP)
WASHINGTON — Roddie Edmonds already has been honored by
the Israeli government for an act of bravery credited with saving the
lives of more than 200 Jewish Americans during World War II.
Now, he may finally be honored by his own government.
Sens. Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker filed legislation Monday to
award the Congressional Gold Medal to Edmonds, who was an
Army master sergeant from Knoxville. The two Republicans were
joined on the legislation by Democrats Tim Kaine of Virginia and
Ben Cardin of Maryland.
Edmonds’ defiance against a German Nazi officer targeting Jewish
American prisoners of war “is one of the most inspiring stories I
know,” Alexander said. “The heroism of this 20-year-old East
Tennessee soldier is an example for every one of us.”
Corker said the courage and foresight shown by Edmonds was truly remarkable.
“Even when faced with death himself, Master Sgt. Edmonds and the men under his command stood united
to protect their fellow soldiers,” Corker said. “His moral fortitude and humility serve as an example for us
all.”
Edmonds' display of defiance and courage took place in 1945, when he was a prisoner of war. One day, the
Germans ordered all Jewish POWs in his camp to report the next morning in front of their barracks.
Edmonds, the highest-ranking officer in the camp, ordered all of the camp's POWs – Jews and non-Jews
alike – to stand together.
An estimated 1,000 servicemen assembled in front of their barracks the next morning, Jan. 27, 1945. Upon
seeing the mass of prisoners, the German officer in charge said, "They cannot all be Jews."
"We are all Jews," Edmonds replied.
Some of the men standing beside Edmonds that day remember him standing his ground, even when the
German officer pulled out his pistol and threatened to shoot him.
"If you shoot me," Edmonds said, "you will have to shoot all of us, and after the war, you will be tried for
war crimes."
The German officer gave up and left.
For his bravery, Edmonds, who died in 1985, was awarded last year with the Righteous Among Nations
award, the highest honor that Israel bestows upon non-Jews. The honor recognizes the heroics of nonJewish people who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust.
http://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/politics/2017/02/13/knoxville-soldier-who-defied-nazisnominated-congressional-gold-medal/97871366/
At the awards ceremony, held at the Embassy of Israel in Washington, then-President Barack Obama
praised Edmonds for going “above and beyond the call of duty.”
“His moral compass never wavered,” Obama said. “He was true to his faith."
Remarkably, Edmonds’ bravery has never been officially recognized by the U.S. government. The
Congressional Gold Medal would rectify that oversight.
The gold medal is awarded for lasting achievements in the field of arts, athletics, diplomacy, medicine,
military service, public service and others. The first medal was awarded in 1776 to George Washington.
Other recipients have included Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the Rev. Billy Graham, and Ronald
and Nancy Reagan.
Edmonds’ son, Chris Edmonds of Maryville, said the family is thrilled he is being considered for the
Congressional Gold Medal.
And yet, “his actions are our greatest reward because he did the right thing even in the face of death,” said
Chris Edmonds, pastor of Piney Grove Baptist Church in Maryville. “The lives he saved – I know those
families, and to see their smiles and to know their contributions to the world, that’s our greatest reward.”
Sen. Cardin said Edmonds’ actions reminded him of the Talmud’s teaching that “whoever saves a life, it is
considered as if he saved an entire world."
“At a dark time in humanity’s history, Master Sgt. Edmonds was a bright light and did what his heart told
him was the right thing to do,” he said. “There are families alive today who can be thankful that their very
existence is due in no small part to Roddie’s service and sacrifice.”
Sen. Kaine called Edmonds “a true American hero and the embodiment of everything our nation was
fighting for against the Nazis in World War II.”
Reach Michael Collins at 703-854-8927, at [email protected] or on Twitter at @mcollinsNEWS.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/-744002--.html
Orange County’s newest museum gives voice to silent war
heroes
By David Whiting
The Orange County (Calif.) Register, February 14, 2017
Standing inside Orange County’s newest museum is to travel back to a time nearly unimaginable and to a
site where 150,000 men and women took their first steps toward winning World War II.
To call the building modest is an understatement. It was never meant to stand out. It was only one of nearly
300 barracks where U.S. Army cadets learned the craft of war.
Yet this little two-story structure in some ways stands higher than the tallest building in the world.
Called “Heroes Hall” and located at the OC Fair and Event Center, this barrack opens its doors for the first
time Wednesday to a public that will learn about the meaning of courage, patriotism, honor.
In one area, a pair of tattered boots silently speaks to the legacy of one Marine who served during the
toughest stretch of the Vietnam War, 1968, the year when more than 16,000 American men and women in
uniform were killed.
“They took me to the places,” writes Sgt. Bruce Pilch of his boots, “to fight a controversial war and, most
importantly, led me to cross paths with other Marines that were once strangers but are forever brothers.”
I look out a window. In silent testimony to our men and women in uniform, there is a Medal of Honor plaza
with recently relocated brass plaques that once formed the Walk of Honor near the county’s Civic Center in
Santa Ana.
The new home for the Walk of Honor is especially fitting. By the end of World War II, the 1,300-acre
Santa Ana Army Air Base saw special units that included the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps, Chinese
National Air Force Detachment, Tuskegee Airmen, Navajo Code Talkers.
The diversity serves as a reminder that war knows only one color – blood red.
WORLD WAR II BASE
Before visiting the museum, I thought I knew a fair amount of Orange County history. But somehow the
Santa Ana Army Air Base’s relatively brief lifespan – 1942-1946 – escaped me.
Its inductees included a young Joseph Heller, who would go on to write the book “Catch 22,” baseball
legend Joe DiMaggio, and Don Beach, who was later known as Don the Beachcomber, king of Polynesian
hip.
Even Gene Autry, cowboy singer and later owner of the Angels baseball team, served at the base.
To entertain the troops, stars such as Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Judy Garland and Frank Sinatra made the
trip down from Hollywood.
But most significantly, the base played a critical role in helping win World War II. At any one time, it
housed 26,000 cadets who learned everything from assembling a machine gun blindfolded – literally – to
the effects of high altitude while sitting in decompression chambers.
Later, the state of California bought the land for the new home for the Orange County Fair.
Michele Richards, vice president of business development for the OC Fair and Event Center, explains the
museum will continue the legacy of the base by telling the stories of men and women who served. Starting
in the fall, 11th-graders will visit to learn more about the military.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/-744002--.html
Already, the museum is up and running.
WALK OF HONOR
I walk the plaza that commemorates Orange County veterans who received the Medal of Honor, the Navy
Cross, the Distinguished Service Cross or the Air Force Cross.
There are an astonishing 11 Medal of Honor plaques and each one is worth reading. One young recipient is
buried in the Navy cemetery that overlooks San Diego Harbor, just a short walk from where my
grandfather is interred.
Michael Monsoor grew up in Orange County, became a Navy SEAL and gave his all on Sept. 29, 2006, in
Ramadi, Iraq, when he threw himself on a grenade, saving the lives of his buddies.
Another plaque honors Tibor Rubin, a man I had the honor of getting to know before he died a little over a
year ago at age 86. Rubin survived the Holocaust in an Austrian concentration camp and came to the U.S.
so he could volunteer as a “G.I. Joe.”
During the Korean War, Rubin suffered anti-Semitic treatment from a superior officer yet served with
exceptional courage fighting off the enemy – alone. Then, he went on to save dozens of Americans in a
POW camp.
I stop to take a photo of the plaque that honors John Baca, a Vietnam veteran who tore off his helmet and
used it and his body to cover a grenade to save his brothers in arms. Baca is 68 years old and a park in
Huntington Beach bears his name. But Baca is far too humble to tell anyone who he is.
So to remind Baca just how much he means to his country, I text the photo to one of his best friends.
EXHIBITS GIVE VOICE
The current main exhibit at the museum focuses on Vietnam, partly through the eyes of Vietnam veteran
Tim O’Brien, author of the book “The Things They Carried.”
“War is hell,” O’Brien writes, “but that is not the half of it, because war is also mystery and terror and
adventure and courage and discovery and holiness and pity and despair and longing and love.
“War is nasty; war is fun. War is thrilling; war is drudgery. War makes you a man; war makes you dead.”
O’Brien’s words echo hundreds of voices I’ve listened to while spending time with men and women who
served in the military. Yet there are other stories as well, stories that come alive in exhibits where you can
bear witness to the tools of war.
I come across a display still under construction and pick up a .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol, standardissue sidearm for U.S. Armed Forces for more than a half-century.
Silently, the heavy weapon tells its own story.
[email protected]
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/fcb1726a59af4b8eac45547c3a385589/russia-reports-new-damage-palmyraarchaeological-site
Russian video raises alarm: New IS damage in Syria’s
Palmyra
By Nataliya Vasilyeva and Bassem Mroue
The Associated Press, February 13, 2017
This photo combo, made from footage taken from the
Russian Defense Ministry official website, purports
to show the Roman-era amphitheater on June 6,
2016, left, and on Feb. 5, 2017, right, in Palmyra,
Syria. Russia's defense ministry has released drone
footage showing new destruction in Syria's historic
town of Palmyra, which was recently recaptured by
the Islamic State group, and warned that the
militants could be planning the further demolition of
antiquities. The video shows that the militants have badly damaged the facade of the amphitheater.
(Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, via AP)
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia on Monday released footage from one of its drones in Syria, revealing for the
first time the latest destruction to the ruins of historic Palmyra since it was recaptured by Islamic State
militants, as Syrian government forces pushed ahead on the ground in a new offensive to take the city back.
Syrian troops have advanced close to within 20 kilometers (12 miles) of the UNESCO heritage site for
which Palmyra is famous and which has already suffered massive destruction at the hands of the Islamic
State group.
The drone footage, released in Moscow, showed IS militants have badly damaged the facade of the Romanera theater and the Tetrapylon — a set of four monuments with four columns each at the center of the
colonnaded road leading to the theater.
The video appears to show that only two of the 16 columns remain standing.
The footage also recorded sustained truck movements around the archaeological site, suggesting the
militants could be preparing for further demolitions by bringing in explosives, warned the Russian Defense
Ministry. It said Russian warplanes last week carried out more than 90 sorties to provide air cover for the
offensive.
Meanwhile, in Geneva, the office of the U.N. envoy for Syria said the "formal start" of a new round of
U.N.-brokered peace talks for the war-torn country is expected on Feb. 23.
Staffan de Mistura's office said he was "actively engaged" in diplomatic efforts aimed at bringing Syrian
government and opposition delegations back to Geneva for the first time since the talks were suspended
amid an upsurge in fighting last April.
De Mistura had previously said the talks were expected to resume on Feb. 20 but his office said now the
delegations would first hold preliminary meetings with de Mistura's team in the Swiss city.
The Islamic State group has destroyed ancient sites across its self-styled Islamic caliphate in territories it
controls in Syria and Iraq, perceiving them as monuments to idolatry.
Palmyra, which once linked Persia, India and China with the Roman Empire and the Mediterranean, first
fell to IS militants in May 2015, when they held it for 10 months.
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/fcb1726a59af4b8eac45547c3a385589/russia-reports-new-damage-palmyraarchaeological-site
During that time, the extremists destroyed ancient temples and eventually emptied the town of most of its
residents, causing an international outcry.
The extremists were eventually driven out by Russian and Syrian government forces, but they seized the
town again in December.
The Russian ministry said that some 200 IS fighters have been killed in the new government offensive to
retake Palmyra and that Syrian forces destroyed 180 "infrastructure objects" and 15 ammunition depots.
The drone footage, which the Russian Defense Ministry said was filmed earlier this month, also showed a
central section of Palmyra's theater lying in ruins.
Maamoun Abdulkarim, the head of Syria's antiquities department, said last month that reports of the recent
destruction first trickled out in late December. Satellite images surfaced in January.
Ahead of the Geneva talks with the opposition that are aimed at ending Syria's nearly six-year civil war
which has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced millions, the government said Monday it is
ready to release prisoners in exchange for civilians or troops held by insurgents. Syrian state TV quoted an
unnamed official as saying the offer comes ahead of a two-day preparatory meeting later this week in the
Kazakh capital, Astana.
Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry has invited government and opposition officials, as well as delegates from
Russia, Turkey, and Iran to Astana on Thursday and Friday. Astana has already hosted a round of talks
among the main Syrian players last month.
Last week the Syrian government and rebels exchanged dozens of prisoners — including women and
children who were held by insurgents for years.
In other developments Monday, authorities in the central Syrian city of Hama, unveiled a statue of late
President Hafez Assad to replace the one pulled down by demonstrators nearly six years ago, in the early
days of the uprising against his son's rule.
The new statue stands on the same spot where the earlier one stood. Hafez Assad ruled Syria for 30 years
before parliament passed power to his son, in 2000. He besieged Hama in response to a revolt by the
Muslim Brotherhood in 1982. An estimated 10,000 - 40,000 people were killed at the time.
His son, President Bashar Assad, has battled a six-year insurgency against his rule that started as an Arab
Spring uprising but quickly descended into an all-out civil war.
In southern Syria, fresh clashes between the government and rebels in the contested Deraa province killed
at least 23 people, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The fighting
punctured an otherwise prolonged period of relative calm between the two sides.
Mroue reported from Beirut. Associated Press writer Philip Issa in Beirut contributed to this report.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2017/02/11/yale-renames-calhoun-college-becauseof-historic-ties-to-white-supremacy-and-slavery/
Yale renames Calhoun College because of historical ties to
white supremacy and slavery
By Monica Wang and Susan Svrluga
The Washington Post, February 12, 2017
A view of Calhoun College. (Michael Marsland/Yale University)
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Yale University will rename one of its
residential colleges, replacing the name of an alumnus remembered
as an advocate of slavery with that of an alumna who was a
pioneering mathematician and computer scientist who helped
transform the way people use technology.
“The minute that the announcement came out, people stuck their
heads out of the window and yelled, ‘Wahoo!’” said Julia Adams, a
sociology professor who is head of the just-renamed Grace Murray Hopper College.
The decision to rename Calhoun College reverses one made last spring, when Yale President Peter Salovey
said he did not want to erase history, but confront it and learn from it.
Colleges across the country — as well as other institutions, cities and legislative bodies — have wrestled
with similar questions, as they consider monuments to the past in the context of modern life. Racial
tensions and protests have intensified those debates in many places, as well as anger from some about
“political correctness” forcing schools to whitewash history.
At Harvard Law School, officials replaced a shield that was the family crest of slave owners. At the
University of North Carolina, officials renamed a hall that had honored a leader of the Ku Klux Klan. At
Princeton, university leaders chose not to remove the name of Woodrow Wilson as protesters had
demanded, instead pledging to be transparent about his failings, such as his support for segregation, as well
as his achievements leading the university and the country.
Salovey said Saturday that he still believes in the importance of confronting history rather than erasing it.
But a committee led by a historian crafted a set of four principles for considering renaming — starting with
a strong presumption against it, but establishing a means for evaluating the idea in exceptional
circumstances, such as when the principal legacy of the person is fundamentally at odds with the values of
the institution.
That was true of U.S. Vice President John C. Calhoun, Salovey said, “a white supremacist, an ardent
defender of slavery as ‘a positive good,’ someone whose views hardened over the course of his life, who
died essentially criticizing the Declaration of Independence and its emphasis on all men being created
equal. …
“I think we can make this change without effacing history. We’re not removing evidence of John C.
Calhoun from our campus.”
By the beginning of the next academic year, the name of alumna Grace Murray Hopper will be added to the
building, and the residential college will be known by that name. Students’ T-shirts will have the Hopper
name. They won’t chisel off the “Calhoun” or remove other traces of him on campus. They have removed
stained-glass windows from the college — one of which portrayed enslaved people picking cotton — and
will display them elsewhere with an explanation of the historical context.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2017/02/11/yale-renames-calhoun-college-becauseof-historic-ties-to-white-supremacy-and-slavery/
The legacy of Calhoun, who graduated from Yale in 1804 and 1822 and served as a U.S. vice president,
secretary of state, secretary of war and senator, becoming an influential champion of slavery, had been
debated at the school over the years. But those discussions turned to urgent pleas in 2015 after a white man
who revered the Confederacy fatally shot nine black worshipers at a church in Charleston, S.C. That led
South Carolina lawmakers to take down the Confederate flag that had long flown at the state Capitol, and
efforts at Yale and elsewhere to stop honoring the name of Calhoun and other people associated with
slavery and white supremacy.
That fall, protests over racial issues erupted on campus, and Salovey promised changes, including a more
diverse faculty and a new center for studies of race and ethnicity. But university leaders resisted demands
to drop the Calhoun name.
Last spring, Salovey said in a letter to the campus community that deleting the name “might allow us to
feel complacent or, even, self-congratulatory. … Retaining the name forces us to learn anew and confront
one of the most disturbing aspects of Yale’s and our nation’s past. I believe this is our obligation as an
educational institution.”
A portrait of John C. Calhoun (courtesy of Yale University)
But in August, he asked a committee to establish principles to guide
university leaders when considering renaming. They concluded
with four things to think about: Whether the principal legacy of the
person is fundamentally at odds with the university’s mission;
whether that legacy was debated during the person’s life; why the
person was honored by the university; and whether the building has
an important role in creating community on campus.
“In considering these principles,” Salovey said in a letter to the
university Saturday, “it became clear that Calhoun College presents
an exceptionally strong case — perhaps uniquely strong — that
allows it to overcome the powerful presumption against renaming.”
He quoted another graduate — the namesake of another residential
college at Yale, Benjamin Silliman — who denounced Calhoun’s
legacy even as he mourned his death, writing that he “in a great
measure changed the state of opinion and the manner of speaking
and writing upon this subject in the South, until we have come to
present to the world the mortifying and disgraceful spectacle of a great republic — and the only real
republic in the world — standing forth in vindication of slavery, without prospect of, or wish for, its
extinction. If the views of Mr. Calhoun, and of those who think with him, are to prevail, slavery is to be
sustained on this great continent forever.”
Salovey said: “This principal legacy of Calhoun — and the indelible imprint he has left on American
history — conflicts fundamentally with the values Yale has long championed. Unlike other namesakes on
our campus, he distinguished himself not in spite of these views but because of them.”
A group of advisers asked to consider the issue unanimously concluded that the name should be changed,
and the Yale Corporation voted Friday in agreement.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2017/02/11/yale-renames-calhoun-college-becauseof-historic-ties-to-white-supremacy-and-slavery/
Grace M. Hopper, a retired Navy rear admiral, died in 1992.
(Courtesy of Yale University)
The Yale Corporation considered alternatives from a shortlist of the
hundreds of names recommended by many students, alumni, faculty
and others, and chose Grace Murray Hopper, who had been
endorsed by the most people as reflective of Yale’s core values.
Adams, who said students rushed to her house to celebrate as soon
as the announcement was made, credited students with having an
effect on not just the Hopper name but also on one of the new
residential colleges slated to open in the fall, which honors civil
rights activist Pauli Murray, who was black.
Adams said she was delighted at Hopper’s name as well. “She was
an amazing woman — her work in the sciences, her dedication to
her country through serving in the military, her personal wit and so
many things about her make her an absolutely wonderful choice.”
Elisia Ceballo-Countryman, a junior, was celebrating the name change with fellow students in Hopper
College on Saturday afternoon, but she said she was disappointed in the way the Yale administration
handled a “long, drawn-out and exhausting” renaming process. She said the college should have honored a
black person given the history of racism attached to the Calhoun name.
Senior Lindsey Hogg said that during the debates about Calhoun, she had advocated for Henry Roe Cloud,
the first Native American to graduate from Yale. Another popular option was Roosevelt Thompson, an
African American graduate of Yale known for his academic achievements and dedication to public service.
But Hogg, like many other students, said she was excited about Hopper. “No matter how you look at this,
it’s a win,” she said. “Yale did the right thing, finally.”
She said she was proud to be in the first class to graduate with the Hopper name. An email from Jonathan
Holloway, the dean of Yale College, to students Saturday afternoon said the official name change will be
July 1, but that students were welcome to begin using the new name immediately. School officials will be
talking about how to proceed with the name change through the diploma ceremony this spring, he said.
Calhoun College alumni can change their affiliation to Hopper if they wish, or retain the Calhoun name.
Students are randomly assigned to one of a dozen, soon to be 14, residential colleges at Yale, which create
smaller communities and often strongly held identities within the large research university. So the name
itself, while symbolic, has a depth of meaning and enduring memories connected with it for many students
and graduates.
Max Walden, a Yale graduate student in the history department, opposes the name change. “I’m not of the
camp that’s trying to keep the name on the merits of Calhoun the man,” he said. “It’s on the merits of
historical rigor and taking the long view, because we ourselves will be subject to the kind of judgment that
Calhoun is undergoing right now.”
Walden said that as a university community, Yale should be taking a rigorous and intellectual view of
Calhoun’s legacy and confronting the past instead of scrubbing the name and caving into current political
pressure.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2017/02/11/yale-renames-calhoun-college-becauseof-historic-ties-to-white-supremacy-and-slavery/
As a historian, Walden believes that attitudes toward the past change throughout time — in the 1930s, he
said, Calhoun’s principal legacy was one of public service to his country, and his defense of slavery came
as a secondary concern when Yale decided to honor him; today, his principal legacy is undoubtedly tied to
racism and slavery.
Walden worries that the administration is initiating a process of questioning principal legacies that will
affect many namesakes currently on campus.
He pointed to the Schwarzman Center, a student center named after billionaire alumnus Stephen A.
Schwarzman that will open in 2020, as an example. A hundred years from now, Walden said students
might look back at the community’s decision to honor Schwarzman today and view Schwarzman’s legacy
of “grotesque wealth and contributions to economic inequality” with disgust.
Holloway, who served on the committee that determined the principles for consideration of renaming, said
Saturday they were very clear that times change and sensitivities change. “Just as we look back at the
decision in the 1930s to name the college after Calhoun with bewilderment,” he said, they recognize that at
some point in the future, people could say of the decision to change the name, “‘What were they
thinking?’”
Over time, he said, “the notion of who’s a Yalie has changed radically,” with a student body far more
diverse in every way. “We need to be aware of that. Not to say we must always change with the wind
blowing different directions, not at all. We just need to be mindful of the significance of these changes. At
some point there may be an overwhelming sense that something is out of sync with our foundational
values.”
He said he’s happy to have the decision made so that people can move on. Hopper was a great choice that
people will celebrate, he said — but he’s also bracing for messages from some prominent alumni who have
opposed the change “who are going to go berserk about this.”
Kica Matos, director of immigrant rights and racial justice for the Center for Community Change, one of
four New Haven activists arrested in a Change the Name rally Friday, said: “For those of us who put our
bodies on the line yesterday, today feels like a sweet vindication. We are just happy that Calhoun’s name
will no longer disgrace the city and the university.”
Salovey, in an interview, said he was thrilled by the choice of Hopper, who earned her doctorate in
mathematics and mathematical physics from Yale in 1934. She left her teaching role at Vassar during
World War II to enlist in the U.S. Navy, using math to fight fascist enemies. Her work on the earliest
computers and computer languages made it possible to write programs for multiple machines
simultaneously, to use word-based languages allowing non-specialists to use computers for the first time
and dramatically expanding the ways computers could be used.
She was a co-inventor of the business language COBOL.
Hopper was recalled to active service in the Navy at the age of 60, and retired as a rear admiral when she
was 79. She was honored many times, including posthumously with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
In his letter to the campus community, Salovey called her a visionary, and wrote, “At a time when
computers were bulky machines limited to a handful of research laboratories, Hopper understood that they
would one day be ubiquitous, and she dedicated her long career to ensuring they were useful, accessible,
and responsive to human needs.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2017/02/11/yale-renames-calhoun-college-becauseof-historic-ties-to-white-supremacy-and-slavery/
Grace Hopper. (Courtesy of the Computer History Museum)
Her principal legacy, he said, “is all around us. … Grace Murray
Hopper College thus honors her spirit of innovation and public
service while looking fearlessly to the future.”
When she died in 1992, her obituary in The Washington Post noted
she had a very strong dislike of intellectual conventions,
symbolized by a clock in her office in the Naval Data Automation
Command that ran counterclockwise. She once told a reporter, “‘the
only phrase I’ve ever disliked is, ‘Why, we’ve always done it that
way.’
“‘I always tell young people, go ahead and do it. You can always
apologize later.’”
Read the Memo on 2017 Calhoun naming decision. Read the letter
from the Presidential Advisory Group.
Discrimination
http://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/319900-washington-court-rules-against-florist-who-refusedflowers-for-gay
Washington court rules against florist who refused flowers
for gay wedding
By Reid Wilson
The Hill, February 16, 2017
The Washington Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a florist who refused to provide flowers to a gay
couple violated a state law that bars discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
In a unanimous ruling, the nine members of the court sided with a gay couple from Kennewick, Wash.,
who sued a local florist for discrimination. The florist, a devout Southern Baptist, told the couple she could
not provide flowers for their wedding because of her religious beliefs.
The florist, Barronelle Stutzman, said she believes participating in or allowing her employees to participate
in same-sex weddings by providing flowers would be condoning same-sex marriage, counter to her
religious beliefs. A lower court judge sided with the couple and fined Stutzman $1,001 in penalties.
Stutzman appealed, marking the first time the nondiscrimination law reached the state Supreme Court in
Olympia. “Discrimination based on same-sex marriage constitutes discrimination on the basis of sexual
orientation,” Justice Sheryl Gordon McCloud wrote for the court. The court said the state’s antidiscrimination law does not unduly burden the florist’s free exercise of religion.
Gay rights groups and the American Civil Liberties Union, which sued on behalf of the couple, hailed the
ruling as a win for nondiscrimination ordinances that have passed in 19 states.
“This was a reasonable application of a state non-discrimination law. It’s consistent with the way that states
and frankly the federal government have applied non-discrimination law across time,” said Sarah
Warbelow, legal director at the Human Rights Campaign.
But religious conservatives said the ruling trampled on Stutzman’s right to religious expression.
“The Washington State Supreme Court’s ruling tramples on our nation’s long-held tradition of respecting
the freedom of Americans to follow their deeply held beliefs, especially when it comes to participating in
activities and ceremonies that so many Americans consider sacred,” said Tony Perkins, head of the Family
Research Council. “The time to protect religious freedom is now.”
Stutzman could appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, though her attorneys did not immediately
say whether they would continue the case.
The verdict comes as legislatures in Republican-dominated states consider new measures that would allow
businesses, and in some cases government agencies, to refuse service to gay, lesbian, bisexual and
transgender people.
States including Texas, Kentucky, Missouri and South Carolina are considering legislation that would
prohibit cities or counties from requiring private entities to allow transgender people to use bathrooms and
locker rooms of their choice. States including Virginia, Oklahoma, Illinois and Alabama are considering
bills that would allow businesses to refuse service to same-sex couples, such as in situations similar to the
Washington case.
More than 70 pieces of legislation dealing with discrimination ordinances have been introduced in nearly
two dozen states, according to the Human Rights Campaign.
Diversity
http://www.militarytimes.com/articles/carol-moseley-braun-african-american-heroes-part-of-vanishingworld-war-i-legacy
Carol Moseley Braun: African-American heroes are a part
of a vanishing World War I legacy [OPINION]
By Carol Moseley Braun
Military Times, February 15, 2017
(Photo Credit: Courtesy photo)
Editor's note: The following is an opinion piece. The writer is not
employed by Military Times. The views expressed here are her own
and do not necessarily represent those of Military Times or its
editorial staff.
It is early fall in 1918. Imagine being an American service member
crouched down in the shrouded mists of a northeastern French valley, deep in the Argonne Forest.
German gunfire erupts as mortar rounds land nearby. You inch forward toward the enemy with soldiers
from France and Belgium on either side of you. The brutal fighting would last nearly six weeks, until an
Armistice was reached between Allied Forces and Germany on Nov. 11, 1918.
Five million Americans served their country in uniform during World War I, including 2 million deployed
overseas. Nearly 117,000 Americans would make the ultimate sacrifice in a battle that would change the
political, global, and social order of the U.S. and its allies – reasons why this war shouldn’t become a
forgotten one.
More than 350,000 African-Americans served during World War I. Overcoming racial hostilities, these
brave men demonstrated through their service, love of country, patriotism and the importance of equality.
The paradox for African-Americans fighting on the front lines in France was clear; they defended
America’s freedoms abroad while being denied those rights at home.
Although the Civil War ended 50 years before World War I began, racial discrimination was common
throughout most of America. Jim Crow laws enforced a culture of segregation. African-Americans faced
prejudice from their white counterparts in the service and in civilian communities near stateside military
bases.
Despite these hardships, African-Americas served with honor and earned respect from American troops,
Allied service members, and eventually the American public. Cpl. Freddie Stowers of South Carolina,
attached to the segregated 371st Infantry Regiment, was killed after bravely leading American soldiers
against entrenched German forces during a battle in the Ardennes Forest in September 1918. Sgt. Henry
Johnson of North Carolina, assigned to the all-black 369th Army Infantry Regiment, engaged in hand-tohand combat with German forces in the Argonne Forest during a May 1918 battle and saved the life of a
fellow soldier. Both men were awarded the Medal of Honor more than 70 years after their deaths.
My own grandfather, Thomas Davie, attached to the Army’s 10th Calvary Regiment, famously known as
the “Buffalo Soldiers,” was posthumously awarded a U.S. Victory Medal and fought in the battle at MeuseArgonne. His cousin, who volunteered at the same time, was not so fortunate; his name is memorialized on
a statute in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood.
The 369th, known as the “Harlem Hellfighters,” gained renown for their fierce fighting and dedicated
patriotism. The unit never had a member taken as a prisoner, nor did it lose a foot of ground it defended,
while suffering 1,500 casualties. More than 100 men received awards for valor.
http://www.militarytimes.com/articles/carol-moseley-braun-african-american-heroes-part-of-vanishingworld-war-i-legacy
Carol Moseley Braun and her grandfather, World War I
veteran Thomas Davie. (Photo Credit: Courtesy photos)
The 369th’s regiment band, led by director James Reese
Europe, boosted morale and played before thousands of
Americans and Europeans, making jazz a part of the
mainstream music scene on both continents.
America was forever changed after the war ended. Women
earned the right to vote. Class barriers began to fall. While prejudice against African-Americans still
existed, economic opportunities began to expand. After decades of institutionalized discrimination,
African-Americans finally had their constitutional rights recognized by historic Supreme Court decisions in
the 1950s, and Congress passed new civil rights laws in recognition of their citizenship.
For many African-Americans, the roots of the civil rights movement that swept America in the 1960s were
planted through the heroic service of African-Americans 50 years earlier on the front lines of World War I.
Their sacrifices and the respect they earned as soldiers changed the perception the American public had of
the people of African ancestry. While it is common today to see African-Americans achieve political,
military, entertainment and athletic success, these victories were forged and made possible by incredible
sacrifices made decades ago.
There is an effort underway to create a National World War I Memorial in Washington, D.C. I give this
effort my full support. You should, too.
Building a such a memorial in our nation’s capital allows us to recognize the millions of American men and
women – of different backgrounds and faiths – who served our nation during a time of crisis and set an
example of selfless service for future generations to follow. It will be a beacon of hope for us all.
Carol Moseley Braun is a special adviser to the U.S. World War I Centennial Commission. Previously, she
served as a U.S. senator representing the state of Illinois and as an ambassador to New Zealand. To learn
more about the National World War I Memorial, visit the Centennial Commission’s website.
https://www.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/1083461/intrepid-african-american-soldiers-broke-barrierspaved-the-way
Intrepid African American Soldiers Broke Barriers, Paved
the Way
By Carrie McLeroy
Defense.gov, February 14, 2017
WASHINGTON, Feb. 14, 2017 — Throughout the nation's history, African-Americans have served in
uniform with honor and distinction during times of war and peace. As a result of their sacrifices and
intrepid spirits, today's highly capable and mission-ready Army leverages the strength of a diverse, allvolunteer force that includes more than 103,000 African-American soldiers.
In recognition of National African American History Month, here's a look back at those brave soldiers who
broke barriers, saved lives and paved the way for today's force.
James Armistead Lafayette
Born into slavery, Lafayette served on behalf of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War as a
double agent. The trust he earned from British Gen. Charles Cornwallis and Benedict Arnold allowed him
to gain access and pass information that would lead to an American victory at the Battle of Yorktown.
Facsimile of the Marquis de Lafayette's original certificate
commending James Armistead Lafayette's service on behalf of the
Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, dated
Nov. 21, 1784. He served as a double agent, and provided the
Continental Army invaluable intelligence throughout the war.
(Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture Manuscripts,
Archives and Rare Books Division)
Despite his bravery in service, as a slave-spy he wasn't eligible
for emancipation under the Act of 1783 for slave-soldiers.
However, with the help of the Marquis de Lafayette, who was
his commander during the war, he petitioned for his freedom,
which was granted in 1787.
Sgt. William Carney
After being shot in the thigh during the assault on Fort Wagner,
South Carolina, July 18, 1863, Carney crawled uphill on his knees bearing the Union flag, inspiring his
fellow soldiers to follow and never allowing the flag to touch the ground. Although severely wounded,
Carney would survive the war and finally receive the Medal of Honor, May 23, 1900. While he wasn't the
first African-American to receive the medal -- Robert Blake, a sailor, was presented the medal in 1864 -his actions were the earliest to merit the nation's highest military medal for valor.
By the end of the Civil War, about 180,000 African-American men had served in the U.S. Army -- 10
percent of the total Union fighting force. About 90,000 of them were former slaves from the Confederate
states. Forty thousand African-American soldiers died in the war: 10,000 in battle and 30,000 from illness
or infection.
Cathay Williams
Williams was the first African-American woman to enlist in the U.S. Army, and the only one documented
to serve posing as a man. She enlisted under the pseudonym William Cathay in 1866 and was given a
medical discharge in 1868.
https://www.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/1083461/intrepid-african-american-soldiers-broke-barrierspaved-the-way
Col. Charles Young
Young was the third African-American to graduate and receive a commission as a second lieutenant from
the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, in 1889. He was the last to do so until Benjamin O.
Davis Jr. in 1936, and the first to advance to the rank of colonel in the regular Army. In addition to
assignments with the 9th and 10th Cavalry as a platoon leader and troop commander, Young commanded
an all-black squadron of volunteer cavalry during the Spanish-American War and 2nd Squadron of the 10th
U.S. Cavalry during the Mexican Expedition of 1916-17. After his promotion to colonel, he commanded
Camp Grant, where he supervised the training of African-American recruits during World War I.
In 1889, Charles Young became the third African-American to
graduate and receive a commission as a second lieutenant from the
U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1889 -- the last to do so until
Benjamin O. Davis Jr. in 1936, and the first to advance to the rank of
colonel in the regular Army. (Army photo)
In the course of his distinguished career, he also served as a park
superintendent when the Army administered national parks, as a
professor of military science at Wilberforce University in Ohio, and as
a military attaché at different times to Haiti, and twice to Liberia. He
passed away of natural causes at Legos, Nigeria, in 1923. After his
remains were repatriated to the United States, he was buried with full
military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.
The Harlem Hellfighters
The 369th Infantry Regiment, "The Harlem Hellfighters," was the first African-American regiment to serve
with the American Expeditionary Forces during World War I. The regiment served on the front lines for
191 days, longer than any other American unit in the war, and was the first unit to cross the Rhine River
into Germany. In all that time, the unit never lost a prisoner or gave up any ground it captured.
Benjamin O. Davis Jr.
While many know that Benjamin O. Davis Sr. became the first African-American general officer in the
U.S. military in 1940, his family's military legacy didn't end with him. His son, famed Tuskegee Airman
Benjamin O. Davis Jr., was the fourth African-American to graduate from West Point and the first to attain
general officer rank in the U.S. Air Force.
Freddie Stowers, Henry Johnson
As a result of racial discrimination, not a single African-American soldier was awarded the Medal of Honor
during World War I or World War II. It wasn't until 1991 that Stowers would be posthumously awarded the
medal -- 73 years after he was killed in action while leading an assault on German trenches in World War I.
In 2015, Johnson would receive the Medal of Honor, 85 years after his death, for his heroic actions fighting
against a German raiding party during that same war.
Vernon Baker
In 1993, after an exhaustive review of records, seven African-Americans would receive Medals of Honor
for their actions during World War II. Baker was the only living recipient, as the six other soldiers were
killed in action or died in the more than 50 years since the war ended.
https://www.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/1083461/intrepid-african-american-soldiers-broke-barrierspaved-the-way
The 761st Tank Battalion
During World War II, the 761st Tank Battalion became the first African-American tank unit to go into
battle. Its soldiers would earn 11 Silver Stars, 69 Bronze Stars, about 300 Purple Hearts and, eventually, a
Medal of Honor.
The 555th Parachute Infantry
Not only were the members of the 555th Parachute Infantry the U.S. Army's first African-American
paratroopers, they were some of the nation's first airborne firefighters. The soldiers were detailed to the
U.S. Forest Service in 1945 as part of Operation Firefly, which was a joint military-civilian effort to
combat wildfire threats from Japanese incendiary bombs that landed from Canada to Mexico and as far east
as Idaho. During Operation Firefly, the 555th had 36 fire missions, which include 1,200 individual jumps.
On July 26, 1948, President Harry Truman issued Executive Order 9981, which declared "that there shall
be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color,
religion or national origin." This order would bring an end to racial segregation in the U.S. military.
Sgt. Cornelius Charlton, Pfc. William Henry Thompson
The Korean War was both the last armed conflict to see segregated units, and the first since the
Revolutionary War to see African-American and white soldiers fighting side by side in the same units.
Only two African-American soldiers would receive the Medal of Honor for action in the Korean War. Both
soldiers served with the 24th Infantry Regiment, one of the last remaining segregated regiments. Sgt.
Cornelius Charlton and Pfc. William Henry Thompson were both killed in action.
(Compiled by Carrie McLeroy, Army Media, Defense Media Activity, from documents provided by the U.S.
National Archives, the Army Historical Foundation, the U.S. Army Center of Military History, the U.S.
Vietnam War Commemoration and the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center.)
https://www.dvidshub.net/news/223415/red-tail-pilot-shares-experience-two-wars
‘Red Tail’ Pilot Shares Experience of Two Wars
By Petty Officer 2nd Class Jerome Johnson
Defense Video Imagery Distribution System, February 13, 2017
FORD ISLAND, Hawaii (Feb. 03, 2017)-Retired U.S. Air Force
Col. Charles McGee sits with his son, Ronald McGee, during a
Hangar Talk at the Pacific Aviation Museum, Ford Island, Hawaii,
Feb. 3, 2017. McGee, a Tuskegee Airman, who served as a pilot
during World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam War, gave a
presentation at the Pacific Aviation Museum geared towards youth
entitled, “In His Own Words.” (Department of Defense photo by
Petty Officer 2nd Class Aiyana S. Paschal)
Imagine going into war abroad coming under a hail of enemy fire to fight against fascism in Europe and
returning home to battle for your own democratic freedoms. This was the reality for Col. Charles McGee
and other minorities during World War II.
In 1942 McGee joined the Army and signed up for a pilot slot in an experimental program located at
Tuskegee Army Airfield, which allowed African-Americans to train to become airmen for the first time in
U.S. history.
“Well, at the time I hadn’t thought about it like oh we’ll go down Tuskegee and set the world on fire. It was
just a matter of being able to participate and certainly, for me, it was a joy to be on the flying side of
things,” said McGee. I enjoyed doing that and that’s what I’d like to pass on. I think it’s every citizen’s
right and certainly a responsibility to serve the country in one way or another, and I think going forward
that helps preserve the freedoms we so much enjoy.”
Prior to World War II minorities were only allowed to perform service type jobs. McGee recalls a 1925
Army War College Report titled “The Use of Negro Manpower in War”, which made assumptions about
African Americans capacity to serve in the military.
‘The Negro is by nature subservient and believes himself to be inferior to the white man. He is most
susceptible to the influence of crowd psychology,” said McGee. ‘He cannot control himself in the face of
danger to the extent the white man can. He has not the initiative and resourcefulness of the white man. He
is mentally inferior to the white man’, McGee said. “This report said because of physical qualification and
of course that meant service you know dig ditches, cook food, drive trucks, but doing anything technical
impossible.”
McGee Graduated flight school on June 30, 1943, and was assigned to an all-black squadron called 332nd
Fighter Group in Naples, Italy. Although the men and women of the squadron landed their shot at serving
as airmen, they were still segregated from their white counterparts and as McGee described “treated like
second-class citizens”.
“Well, the challenge pretty much at the time was being accepted based on our ability and so on rather than
the fact that there were those who felt we didn’t have the brain power or the fortitude to participate in a
successful way,” said McGee.
However, McGee and his unit quickly gained notoriety through their successful long-range bomber escort
missions. Their flawless execution of their mission earned them the respect from the white bomber crews
and made them a formidable adversary to the German Luftwaffe pilots. By the end of 1944, McGee had
137 combat missions under his belt.
https://www.dvidshub.net/news/223415/red-tail-pilot-shares-experience-two-wars
“Fortunately once given the opportunity we were able to disprove that because it’s all about first, having an
education and developing a talent and found out we could perform successfully,” said McGee.
Charles McGee and the 332nd’s commitment to service did not go unnoticed by the nation. In 1947 the
Army Air Corps started abandoning its policies that promoted segregation. One year later President Harry
Truman signed an executive order to abolish racial discrimination in the United States Armed Forces.
“Well, I didn’t realize that was happening when I got the opportunity to serve but realized what it meant
because the experience gave the air force the background to make a decision that affected all of our
services and affected the country,” said McGee. I was just glad to serve and doubly glad that it turned out
to be that important even though that wasn’t a goal for my reason of serving at the time.”
McGee is committed to passing down the first-hand experience of history to future generations so that they
may never forget the lessons learned.
“I enjoy talking to students and enjoy getting their questions and answers because I realize the value of the
lessons that sustained us if you will through those periods that we don’t want to be repeated in many ways
are still important for their growing up and taking part in the future of our country,” said McGee. So it’s
always a pleasure to talk to students and hopefully get them to realize that they are the future of their
country and so their attitudes are all very important.”
As a result of Charles McGee and other trailblazers like him, more than one million African-Americans
served in World War II. He has a total of 409 aerial combat missions flown, which is the highest Air Force
record. Today, the United States Armed Forces continues to strive for diversity by opening opportunities
for more citizens to serve.
https://www.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/1081817/sorting-the-mail-blazing-a-trail-african-americanwomen-in-world-war-ii
Sorting the Mail, Blazing a Trail: African-American Women
in World War II
By Elizabeth M. Collins, Army.mil
Defense.gov, February 13, 2017
WASHINGTON, Feb. 13, 2017 — "I'm going to send a white first lieutenant down here to show you how
to run this unit."
Women's Army Corps Maj. Charity Adams, 6888th Central Postal
Directory Battalion commander, and Army Capt. Abbie Noel Campbell,
6888th CPD executive officer, inspect the first soldiers from the unit to
arrive in England, Feb. 15, 1945. The only all-African-American Women's
Army Corps unit sent to Europe during World War II, the 6888th was
responsible for clearing years' worth of backlogged mail in both England
and France. (National Archives photo)
The general's yell hung in the air, shocking the soldiers lined up at
attention. As chew-outs go, telling a major -- a battalion commander,
no less -- that a lieutenant would be taking over was particularly degrading.
But the general didn't plan to send just any lieutenant. He planned to send a white lieutenant -- the
implication, of course, was that the lieutenant would not just be white, but male. And the general was
dressing down one of the highest-ranking African-American women in the Army, the commander of
6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. The battalion was the only all-black Women's Army Corps unit
deployed to Europe in World War II.
"Over my dead body, sir," replied WAC Maj. Charity Adams, not sure if she was most insulted by "white,"
"first lieutenant" or "white first lieutenant," she explained in her memoirs, "One Woman's Army: A black
officer remembers the WAC."
She knew she might be court-martialed, so she planned to charge the general, whom she never names, with
violating the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Command's rules against explicitly stressing
segregation.
Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps
Adams the first African-American woman to be commissioned into the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps,
graduated from the first WAAC officer candidate class at Fort Des Moines, Iowa, in the summer of 1942.
The WAAC was created in May 1942 as an auxiliary to the Army with no military status, but in July 1943
it was replaced by the WAC. The women in the auxiliary were incorporated into the WAC and given
military ranks.
The push to include African-Americans in the WAAC had faced challenges, but the efforts of AfricanAmerican newspapers and activists, including Mary McLeod Bethune, a member of President Franklin D.
Roosevelt's "Black Cabinet," and her good friend First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, had ultimately prevailed. A
quota was set for 10 percent of the total WAAC.
There was space for 40 African-American women in the first officer training class, and it was clear they
would have to be the best of the best.
"I was sure I would never pass," recalled Capt. Violet Hill, Company D commander. "At that time, I had
completed two years of college. … Their goal was 40 Negro women who would then form the officer corps
https://www.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/1081817/sorting-the-mail-blazing-a-trail-african-americanwomen-in-world-war-ii
that would train the subsequent enlisted women. … Their standards, their expectations and their hopes were
high. … They preferred women who had not only the education background but also some maturity and
work experience, which would be an asset in embarking on an endeavor that was experimental and had a
lot riding on it."
"There's no doubt that in that first class, both African-American as well as white women, they did really
select the best that they could to give the Women's Army Corps the best possible chances," said Francoise
Bonnell, director of the U.S. Army Women's Museum, noting that the women were all professionals, some
with masters' and law degrees.
Segregation
While the WAAC and WAC were segregated with separate "Negro" companies and barracks -- Adams
writes of her shock at being told to step aside with all the other "colored" girls -- it was less so than the rest
of the Army, according to Bonnell. The WAC was so small that all of the soldiers usually trained together,
for example, and an attempt to designate colored tables in the cafeteria lasted only a few days when that
first group of African-American WACs refused to eat. And in one of her assignments, Adams worked in an
all-white office.
That's not to say the women didn't encounter blatant racism. Travel, especially throughout the south, could
be especially humiliating. "The incident that I'll never forget is when there were four of us having to change
trains," remembered WAC Staff Sgt. Evelyn Martin. "I was informed by a train conductor, we -- and he
used the N-word -- could not ride the train. I kept my composure, and I said, 'We have to ride it. The
military has to know where we are.' In order to ride that train, the officer of the day … and an MP and the
conductor -- they found a piece of wrapping paper and some cord and separated us from the white
passengers."
Adams tells similar stories, and as she rose through the ranks, her very uniform started to raise questions: "I
was waiting with my parents in the small, dirty, and crowded 'colored' waiting room in the Atlanta railroad
station," she recalled. "There were very many military personnel roaming around the station … so the MPs
were constantly moving throughout the crowd. … Two white MPs … addressed me,” she wrote.
"'Some people have -- there was a question --'
"'Yes, I see. You want to know if I really am a major in the U.S. Army. … Names? I can see your rank.
Your serial numbers? Your unit? Location? The name of your commanding officer?'" Adams asked,
advising the men to report themselves before she had the chance. They learned a lesson, she wrote, adding
that another MP refused to question her when confronted by a suspicious passenger.
Those reactions were harbingers of the surprise and hostility she and her executive officer, Capt. Abbie
Noel Campbell, encountered when they flew to Europe in January 1945 in advance of their battalion. They
were, she wrote, "among U.S. military personnel who could not believe Negro WAC officers were real.
Salutes were slow in coming and, frequently, returned with great reluctance."
First in Europe
The two women were literally the first black WACs in Europe and, technically, they weren't supposed to be
there. Although black Army nurses served in combat zones, when African-Americans had first been
allowed to join the WAC, it had been with the proviso that they could never serve overseas. It only
happened because of the "needs of the Army," Bonnell said.
https://www.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/1081817/sorting-the-mail-blazing-a-trail-african-americanwomen-in-world-war-ii
"That's how we oftentimes see policies and progress. … After the D-Day invasion … the mail very quickly
became backed up. … There was also a push by African-American groups to try to force the War
Department to allow and to actually create requisitions for African-American WACs in the European
Theater. … Eventually, based on this need, a requisition was sent out for 800 women," she said.
Many of the women were hand-picked. They were blazing a trail and they were expected to excel. They
had to be, as Adams told her troops, "the best WAC unit ever sent into a foreign theater. … The eyes of the
public would be upon us, waiting for one slip in our good conduct or performance."
"One day I came home from work … and the girls said … 'Your name's on the board,'" remembered Staff
Sgt. Essie O'Bryant. "There was a list of girls selected to go overseas. … I went in to my commanding
officer … and she said, 'I selected the girls that I would like to go overseas with me.' … It was an honor for
her to think that much of me."
Overwhelming Task
After long, fraught journeys across the Atlantic that involved shadowing by German U-boats and a V-1
"buzz" bomb that landed just as some of them disembarked in Scotland, the soldiers of the 6888th arrived
in Birmingham, England, in February 1945.
They were stationed at an old school and it must have been a dismal prospect. Mattresses were made from
straw; showers were in the courtyard and heat was almost nonexistent. In a large warehouse, stacked
ceiling high were piles of mail -- years' worth of letters and packages waiting to be delivered to millions of
service members, civilians and aid workers all over the continent.
French civilians and soldiers from the 6888th Central Postal Directory
Battalion sort mail in France during the spring of 1945. Viewing their jobs
as crucial to morale at the front, they processed some 65,000 pieces of mail
a shift and worked three shifts a day. At the same time, the soldiers faced
constant prejudice and broke gender and racial barriers. (Army photo)
It was a massive undertaking, but the women knew mail from home
meant everything to soldiers on the line, so they buckled down and
worked three shifts a day, seven days a week. This was actually the
reason the general accused Adams of incompetence. He expected to
inspect the whole battalion and was livid when only a third of the soldiers were available. He later
apologized and told her he respected her for standing up to him.
"They supplied us with files, the names of men who were enlisted in the Army in the European Theater,"
remembered Pfc. Dorothy Turner. "You know what was so exciting about that? There was part of the
history of these men on the files. … You could see the last time that this man got mail and you were so
determined to find him because you had this pile of mail that he should have gotten over the years and
packages. … You knew that he had not gotten any news from his family or friends … and you were
determined to try to find him."
It required immense attention to detail. For the same reasons the mail had gotten backlogged in the first
place, many soldiers simply didn't have the time to keep their address cards up to date as their units
advanced, which sometimes required two or three changes a week. Soldiers also changed units. And then
there were the name duplications.
https://www.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/1081817/sorting-the-mail-blazing-a-trail-african-americanwomen-in-world-war-ii
"At one point," Adams wrote, "we had more than 7,500 Robert Smiths. … There were, of course, tens of
thousands of Roberts with other last names. Moreover, there were variations of first names, nicknames that
are used in the United States: Bob, Rob, Bobby, Robby, Bert, and so forth, just for Robert."
In addition to tracking down soldiers, the WACs also had to censor the mail, blacking out sensitive
information. They had to print V-mail cards. The military would photograph certain letters and send them
overseas on microfilm. It saved space and weight but was time-consuming. They processed some 65,000
pieces of mail a shift and finished a six-month job in three. Then they were off to Rouen, France, to tackle
another backlog, and then Paris.
Tragedy struck in France, where three of the WACs died in a jeep accident while on furlough. They were
buried in Normandy.
Furloughs were common, however, and the women found time to relax and travel despite their heavy
workloads. The 6888th veterans also all spoke of how friendly the people of were, particularly the people
of Birmingham, welcoming the WACs into their homes and treating them with a respect many had never
experienced at home -- or with their own countrymen in Europe.
Standing up to Racism
Although black and white WACs had initially used the same Red Cross hotels and recreation facilities
without incident, one day Red Cross officials proudly announced that they had procured a separate hotel for
the 6888th in London, suggesting the WACs would prefer it that way. It was a nice hotel, but Adams told
them, "As long as I am a commanding officer … not one member of that unit will ever spend one night
here." As far as she knew, no one ever did. It was, she wrote, "an opportunity to stand together for a
common cause."
The final insult came on the troop ship home. Adams, who would soon be promoted to lieutenant colonel,
was the highest-ranking woman aboard, leaving her in command of not only her unit, but also a white
Army Nurse Corps detachment. They refused to accept Adams' authority. Tired and fed up, Adams
struggled to keep her temper under control.
"If you cannot go home under my command, I suggest you pack your belongings. … We sail at midnight,”
she told the recalcitrant troops. “You have 20 minutes to get off. I don't care whether you go home or not,
but if you go, you go under my command."
Adams turned to make a dramatic exit and almost ran into the ship's captain. He corrected her: The women
would have only 17 minutes to disembark. No one did.
"What's more important? The military policies and customs and courtesies or blatant racism?" asked
Bonnell, noting that military courtesies usually won out. She explained that after the war, many of the
WACs used their GI Bill benefits for college and even graduate school, becoming educators, lawyers,
community leaders and social activists. Adams herself became a college dean.
"The experience of African-American women at this particular time lays the groundwork for change, not
only for their race, but also for women in general," she continued. "We see progress in terms of the changes
in military policy and opportunities taking place for women in part because of the challenges women
experienced in World War II, none more so than African-American women."
(Editor's Note: One of the last veterans of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, Army Cpl. Alyce Dixon,
died, Jan. 27, 2016, at the age of 108, as soldiers began work on this story. All of the veterans' quotes come from oral
histories supplied by the Veterans History Project and Lt. Col. Charity Adams Earley's memoirs.)
http://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/319575-women-reach-new-heights-in-state-legislatures
Women reach new heights in state legislatures
By Reid Wilson
The Hill, February 15, 2016
A century after Jeannette Rankin became the first woman elected to the House of Representatives, the
number of women in elected office is reaching new heights — though their progress remains far behind
other Western democracies.
There are 1,830 women serving in state legislative bodies across the nation this year, according to statistics
compiled by the National Conference of State Legislatures. That means women hold 24.8 percent of the
7,383 seats in the country’s 99 state legislative chambers.
It’s a higher percentage of women in legislative office than ever before, though it represents only a
fractional increase from the previous zenith, in 2010, when 1,808 women held legislative seats.
"These are really just blips in what looks like a flat line," said Jennifer Lawless, director of the Women and
Politics Institute at American University.
Women in state legislatures are more likely to be Democratic than Republican: There are 1,109 Democratic
women in state legislatures, compared with 704 Republicans. There are also four members of minor parties,
and 13 women in Nebraska’s nonpartisan, unicameral legislature.
A little more than a third of all Democratic state legislators are women, according to data from the Center
for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University. Fewer than one in six Republican state legislators
are women.
But Republican women have made gains in recent years, given that in 2009 only 519 Republican women
served in state legislatures.
“We had more women run this year than we’d ever had, in my recollection,” said Linda Upmeyer, a
Republican and the first woman to serve as speaker of Iowa’s state House. “We do see more women
running. We do see more women engaged. The women that run are very likely to be successful.”
Upmeyer is one of six women serving as House speakers, along with colleagues in Colorado, Maine,
Oregon, Tennessee and Vermont.
Women run state Senates in Kansas, Minnesota and Rhode Island, as well. All told, 66 women hold
positions in the top rungs of legislative leadership, be they majority or minority leaders, or pro tem officers.
Lawless said women are no more or less likely to win political office than male candidates. Experts agree
that the reason more women aren't winning elections is because few women choose to run.
"We aren't seeing a real increase in the number of women running every cycle. That's reflected in the
number of officeholders at the end of the day," said Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American
Women and Politics. "We need more women running. That falls somewhat on the women themselves, to
run, and that falls somewhat on the gatekeepers, in the recruiting of candidates."
Both Democrats and Republicans have launched programs specifically targeted at electing women to statelevel offices.
EMILY’s List, the Democratic fundraising group that aids pro-abortion rights candidates, operates Focus
2020, which aims to recruit and train candidates, especially in states where Democrats hold narrow
majorities or are within reach of taking control.
http://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/319575-women-reach-new-heights-in-state-legislatures
The group held a candidate-training program for 500 women in Washington the day after hundreds of
thousands of people marched in opposition to newly inaugurated President Donald Trump. EMILY’s List
hopes that training event and others like it across the country, will lead to a surge of new female candidates
in the next few years.
“We had heard from thousands of people since this election who came to us proactively, unsolicited, who
said they wanted to run for office,” said Rachel Thomas, an EMILY’s List spokeswoman.
On the right, the Republican State Leadership Committee’s Right Women, Right Now program has helped
385 female candidates run and win state office since its inception in 2012. Nine of those women are
lieutenant governors; one, Iowa Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds (R), will soon become her state’s first female
governor, when Gov. Terry Branstad (R) leaves to become Trump’s ambassador to China.
“This is helping to build a bench of future leaders who are going to be governors, be congressmen, be
senators, be president,” said Ellie Hockenbury, an RSLC spokeswoman.
If the first female president rises through the ranks via a state legislative seat, she is more likely to come
from Western and Northeastern states, which have better track records of electing women than Southern
states.
Colorado and Vermont have routinely ranked at or near the top of the number of women in elected office,
though Vermont is one of only two states that has never sent a woman to Congress.
Nevada, where 40 percent of legislators are women, currently holds the crown.
On the other end of the spectrum, fewer than 15 percent of legislative seats are held by women in
Wyoming, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina and West Virginia.
Women hold a larger share of seats in legislatures than they do in Congress: 21 members of the United
States Senate are women, while women account for 83 voting seats in the U.S. House of Representatives,
or 19 percent.
A hundred years after Rankin, a Montana Republican, became the first woman to serve in Congress, the
115th Congress is the second in a row in which women hold more than 100 of the 535 seats. Women have
held at least 50 seats in every Congress since 1993.
But compared to other Western democracies, the number of women in U.S. elected office is woefully low.
More than 40 percent of parliamentary bodies in Finland, Norway and Sweden are made up of women.
More than 30 percent of those holding seats in Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, New Zealand, Austria and
the United Kingdom are women, according to World Bank statistics.
"There are 100 nations that surpass us in terms of the number of women in the national parliament,"
Lawless said. "And our numbers have gotten worse."
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/02/15/a-year-in-no-female-seal-applicants-few-specops.html
A Year In, No Female SEAL Applicants, Few for SpecOps
By Hope Hodge Seck
Military.com, February 15, 2017
Soldiers negotiate obstacles during the Cultural Support
Assessment and Selection program. (Staff Sgt. Russell Klika/U.S.
Army)
A little more than 12 months after training pipelines for previously
closed elite special operator jobs opened to women, the U.S.
military has yet to see its first female Navy SEAL or Green Beret.
The component commanders for each of the service special
operations commands say they're ready to integrate female operators into their units, but it's not yet clear
when they'll have the opportunity to do so.
The Navy is closely monitoring the interest of female applicants. In fact, Naval Special Warfare Command
is eyeing one Reserve Officer Training Corps member who's interested in the SEALs, and another woman
who has yet to enter the service but has expressed interest in becoming a special warfare combatant craft
crewman, a community even smaller than the SEALs with a training pipeline nearly as rigorous.
But it will likely be years until the Navy has a woman in one of these elite units.
Rear Adm. Tim Szymanski, head of Naval Special Warfare Command, which includes the elite SEALs and
other Navy special operations units, noted that the enlisted training pipeline for SEALs is two-and-a-half
years from start to end, meaning a female applicant who began the process now wouldn't join a team until
nearly 2020.
And that assumes that she makes it through the infamously grueling Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL
training.
"Just last week, we secured Hell Week ... [we started with] 165 folks. We finished with 29. It's a tough
pipeline and that is not uncommon," Szymanski told an audience at the National Defense Industrial
Association's Special Operations/Low Intensity Conflict conference near Washington, D.C., on Tuesday.
"Five classes a year, and that's what you have, demographically."
While the Army Rangers famously had three female officers earn their tabs in 2015 in a special program
ahead of the December 2015 Defense Department mandate that actually gave women the right to serve in
the Rangers, the elite regiment remains male-only, at least for now.
To date, one female officer in a support military occupational specialty has completed the training process
and will likely join the unit by the end of March, said Lt. Gen. Kenneth Tovo, commander of Army Special
Operations Command.
In other previously closed Army special operations elements, he said, two enlisted women have attempted
special operations assessment and selection but haven't made it through. One, who was dropped due to
injury and not to failure to meet standards, is likely to reattempt the process, Tovo said.
Two female officers are also expected to begin assessment and selection in the "near future," he said.
"So we're going slow," Tovo said. "The day we got the word that SF and rangers were available to women,
our recruiting battalion that actually works for recruit command sent an email to every eligible woman,
notifying them of the opportunity and soliciting their volunteerism. We are working things across the force
through special ops recruiting battalion to talk to women and get them interested."
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/02/15/a-year-in-no-female-seal-applicants-few-specops.html
Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command was the first service to report publicly that it had
women in its training pipeline. But in a year, MARSOC has had just three applicants, and none who made
it through the first phase of assessment and selection, commander Maj. Gen. Carl Mundy III said at the
conference. Currently, he added, there are no women in training, and none on deck to enter the pipeline.
The Air Force, which opened its combat control, pararescue and tactical air control party jobs to women
last year, has had several applicants, but all have been dropped from training due to injury or failure to meet
standards, said Lt. Gen. Marshall Webb, commander of Air Force Special Operations Command.
"I think this is a slow build … and we'll keep after it," Webb said, noting that that the service observed
similar trends when it opened other jobs up to women decades ago. "AFSOC is looking for the highest
caliber candidates, and when a person meets that standard, she will be joining our ranks."
For some of the services, the challenge is twofold.
Tovo said Army Special Forces recruits primarily from the infantry, which opened to women at the same
time SF did. And women are moving quickly into these previously closed jobs; the first 10
women graduated from the Army's infantry officer course in October, and 140 women are reportedly on
deck to enter infantry training in 2017, while more have already been reclassified. But it's still a small field.
MARSOC also recruits heavily from Marine Corps ground combat MOSs. To date, just three female
Marines assigned to one of these jobs have entered the fleet.
"This is a process; it's going to take time," Tovo said. "We are focused on it, we're ready for it and I have
no doubt when we get the opportunity to put women through our qualification courses, it going to be done
to a professional standard and we will be proud of the results of the female operators who come out the
other end."
Szymanski suggested that social barriers to women serving in units such as the SEALs may no longer be
the impediment they once were, as younger, more tolerant sailors enter the force.
"The students coming through, it's no big deal to them," he said. "This generation's much more tolerant of
society than our generation -- a multi-diverse, gender-neutral society. Some of the integration [challenges]
will be with our older cohorts."
It's possible, however, that the services will have to rethink recruitment in light of a widened field of
potential applicants. Szymanski said his contracted SEAL scout teams visit high schools to recruit talent,
but tend to target events with high male participation.
"Typically in the past, that's been things like wrestling matches and those types of things," he said. "So I
now have to be sure that they're thinking about, how do they incentivize or attract younger females at some
of those events. Maybe swimming meets; swimmers typically will fend well in the pipeline if they're good
in the water."
Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @HopeSeck.
Miscellaneous
https://www.dvidshub.net/news/223758/appearance-standards-change
Appearance standards change
By Airman 1st Class Kathryn Reaves
Defense Video Imagery Distribution System, February 16, 2017
Photo By Airman 1st Class Kathryn Reaves | Air Force Instruction 362903, Dress and Personal Appearance of Air Force Personnel, was
updated to include new uniform authorizations, such as the use of gym bag
shoulder straps, Feb. 9, 2017. It is the responsibility of all Airmen to stay
informed of instruction changes as they are constantly evolving. (U.S. Air
Force illustration by Airman 1st Class Kathryn R.C. Reaves)
Air Force dress and appearance standards were updated Feb. 9.
Updates included changed language and new authorizations per a
memorandum attachment published by Lt. Gen. Gina M. Grosso,
Headquarters U.S. Air Force manpower, personnel and services deputy
chief of staff.
New authorizations pertain to, but are not limited to, mess dress uniforms, female semi-formal uniform,
Airman battle uniforms, physical training gear, backpacks and gym bags.
“Airmen should remain situationally aware of these types of changes,” said Chief Master Sgt. Christopher
McKinney, 20th Fighter Wing command chief. “The Air Force is constantly evolving to keep up with the
changing world; whether it’s AFIs or being prepared for the next fight. By keeping up with dress and
appearance standards, Airmen take ownership and show their pride in the uniform they wear.”
Examples of uniform changes include authorization for female Airmen to wear semi-formal slacks and
low-quarter shoes with the semi-formal uniform; removal of color restrictions for form fitting undershirts
and sportswear (spandex) with physical training gear; and removal of pleat and cuff requirements on
informal uniform trousers.
Airmen in uniform may now use gym bags that are solid dark blue, black, olive drab, Air Force sage green
or ABU pattern. Individuals may carry the bag in the left hand or use the shoulder strap on the left
shoulder.
Airmen carrying backpacks are now authorized to use solid black, olive drab, Air Force sage green or ABU
pattern backpacks with any uniform combination.
However, installation commanders are authorized to restrict wear policies to support unit cohesion and
present a standardized appearance.
It is important for Team Shaw members, as well as leadership, to know about AFI updates because they
hold Airmen’s basic truths and guidelines, said Master Sgt. Gregory Fifer, 20th Force Support Squadron
first sergeant.
For more information, refer to AFI 36-2903, Dress and Personal Appearance of Air Force Personnel,
available at www.static.e-publishing.af.mil.
https://kitup.military.com/2017/02/beards.html
Chem-Bio Threats Still Overrule Army Beards
By Matthew Cox
Military.Com, February 13, 2017
As many of you have heard, soldiers in today’s Army can wear
beards for reasons of religious freedom. But that doesn’t mean they
don’t have to keep a razor at the ready if the threat of chemical and
biological agents arises.
In January, the Army granted brigade level commanders the
authority to grant soldiers religious accommodation requests
requiring a waiver for uniform wear and grooming practices such as
wearing a hijab, wearing a beard and wearing a turban or underturban/patka, with uncut beard and uncut hair.
“Based on the successful examples of soldiers currently serving with these accommodations, I have
determined that brigade-level commanders may approve requests for these accommodations, and I direct
that the wear and appearance standards established in paragraph 4 of the enclosure to this directive be
incorporated into AR 670-1,” then Secretary of the Army Eric Fanning wrote in the Army directive.
But as anyone who has ever worn a protective mask knows – they don’t work right unless they are sealed
against your skin – something facial hair will prevent.
“Study results show that beard growth consistently degrades the protection factor provided by the
protective masks currently in the Army inventory to an unacceptable degree,” the directive states.
“Although the addition of a powered air-purifying respirator and/or a protective mask with a loose-fitting
facepiece has demonstrated potential to provide adequate protection for bearded individuals operating in
hazardous environments, further research, development, testing, and evaluation are necessary to identify
masks that are capable of operational use and can be adequately maintained in field conditions.”
So until better equipment is fielded, the Army will likely suspend these religious accommodations when the
threat of exposure to toxic CBRN agents arises, the directive states.
“An accommodation for a beard may be temporarily suspended when a specific and concrete threat of
exposure to toxic CBRN agents exists that requires all soldiers to be clean-shaven, including those with
medical profiles,” the directive states.
“Commanders may require a soldier to shave if the unit is in, or about to enter, a real tactical situation
where use of a protective mask is actually required and where the inability to safely use the mask could
endanger the soldier and the unit.”
https://www.marinecorpstimes.com/articles/marine-recruiting-slogan-on-hiatus
‘The Few, The Proud’ on hold as Marine recruiting slogan
By Jeff Schogol
Marine Corps Times, February 16, 2017
The Marines may replace the service's iconic recruiting slogan.
The Marine Corps’ historic recruiting slogan “The Few, The Proud” is
going on hiatus but it’s not going away, a top recruiting official said.
New Marine Corps recruiting commercials set to air next month will
not include any tagline at all, said Lt. Col. John Caldwell, a
spokesman for Marine Corps Recruiting Command. Instead, they will
end with the word “Marines” and the Corps’ eagle, globe and anchor
emblem.
Caldwell stressed that “The Few, The Proud” remains part of the Marine Corps’ lexicon and is not going
away.
“’The Few, The Proud’ has not and will not be retired indefinitely,” Caldwell told Marine Corps Times on
Thursday.
The Marine Corps’ decision to end recruiting commercials with the Corps’ name and emblem reflect a
wider trend in advertising, he said.
“Nike, a lot of their advertisements now end with the swoosh – or the swoosh and the word ‘Nike’ – but the
tagline ‘Just Do It’ or something like that isn’t there,” Caldwell said. “A lot of advertisers … punctuate
their advertising products with their brand. That’s effectively what these new TV ads you’re going to see
do. They end with our brand.”
The new commercials will focus on three themes: Making Marines, winning battles and returning quality
citizens, he said.
“Those chapters you will see fleshed out in these advertisements with everything framed through the
context of a fight – a fight that we intend to win, because that is what Marines do,” Caldwell said.
Caldwell told Marine Corps Times in September that the upcoming recruiting advertisements may not
include “The Few, The Proud” slogan because “it doesn’t say anything about what we do or why we
exist.”
The Marine Corps has used “The Few, The Proud” as a recruiting slogan since 1977, but the Corps has also
used others since then such as “We’re Looking for a Few Good Men.”
Caldwell has stressed that the replacing “The Few, The Proud” was never the focus of the new advertising
campaign.
“The conversation was not about the fate of ‘The Few, The Proud,’ but rather: What is an appropriate way
to punctuate this advertisement,” Caldwell said. “Where do you end the narrative?”
Although the slogan will not be part of the upcoming commercials, it still belongs to the Marine Corps and
it could be used with other recruiting materials, he said.
“’The Few, The Proud’ still belongs to the Marines, along with all previous taglines used, Caldwell said. “It
will be used when and where needed and most appropriate.”
Religion
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2017/0215/Americans-are-becoming-more-tolerant-of-manyreligious-groups-survey-finds
Americans are becoming more tolerant of many religious
groups, survey finds
A Pew Research Center survey has found that Americans, on average, experience warmer
feelings towards various religious groups, including Muslims and Atheists, than they did
even a few years ago.
By Weston Williams
The Christian Science Monitor, February 15, 2017
According to a Pew Research study released Wednesday, Americans have been warming up to other
religious groups across the United States, even compared to a relatively recent study released by the
nonpartisan research center.
The survey found that positive feelings had increased for almost all of the various religious groups studied
in this year's survey, compared to the study from three years ago.
The randomly-selected telephone survey asked 4,248 adults asked to rate each group on a "feeling
thermometer," where 0 degrees reflected the coldest, most negative possible rating and 100 degrees
reflected the warmest, most positive rating. The coolest overall ratings were fairly neutral on the scale – 48
and 50 toward Muslims and atheists, respectively – but were a significant step up from a 2014 survey that
rated the groups at a chillier 40 and 41 degrees.
"It's interesting to find that after a very contentious election year, when there was a lot of negativity and a
lot of divides emphasized, there were more positive feelings expressed towards all these religious groups,
and really across the board," Jessica Hamar Martínez, a senior researcher at the Pew Research Center, told
The New York Times.
According to the new survey, Americans still have the warmest feelings for Jews and Catholics, at 67 and
66 degrees, up from 62 and 63 degrees in 2014. Mainline Protestants came in third, at 65 percent.
The only religious group to not experience an overall boost in temperature was Evangelical Christians, who
remained steady at 61 degrees compared to 2014. While the survey did not ask those surveyed for the
reasons for their rankings, Kate Shellnutt of Christianity Today speculated that it may have something to do
with a lack of exposure to evangelicals today compared with three years ago.
"The proportion of Americans who say they know an evangelical dropped by 9 percentage points from
2014 to 2017, down to 61 percent today.... Meanwhile, knowing an evangelical increases their rating by 12
degrees on Pew’s feeling thermometer," Ms. Shellnutt wrote.
According to Pew, there does seem to be a relationship between favorable feeling for a religious group and
knowing someone from that denomination. For people who knew a Muslim, for example, the average
thermometer rating for Muslims overall was 56 degrees. But for people who did not know a Muslim, that
average was 42 degrees. And 45 percent of people who took the 2017 survey said they know a Muslim,
compared with only 38 percent who knew a Muslim in 2014.
But despite the positive survey results for most religious groups, some have questioned how accurate or
relevant the survey actually is, particularly in light of a spike in reports of hate crimes and
harassment against Muslims and Jewish people surrounding the recent election.
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2017/0215/Americans-are-becoming-more-tolerant-of-manyreligious-groups-survey-finds
"To me, this makes it seem like all's well in America, and I think that's not accurately depicting the reality,"
Jen'nan Ghazal Read, an associate professor of sociology and global health at Duke University, told The
New York Times.
The Pew Research study notes that while the general trend of warm feelings is going up, those feelings can
vary widely depending on factors like the religious beliefs, age, and political views of the person being
surveyed. For example, Democrats and those who lean toward the Democratic Party express somewhat
warm feelings (56 degrees) toward Muslims, while Republicans and those who lean toward the Republican
Party have a much chillier view (39 degrees). However, both temperatures are higher than they were in
2014 (up from 47 for Democrats and 33 for Republicans, respectively).
Education also played a part in the survey results. Americans with college degrees tended to rate all groups
more favorably compared to Americans with no college education, except for Evangelical Christians.
Along racial and ethnic lines, there were not many significant differences between groups, though black
Americans tended to view Muslims more warmly than either white or Hispanic Americans.
SEE ALSO:
Pew study finds Americans ‘warming’ to other religious groups more than ever [San Francisco Chronicle,
2017-02-15]
Americans Rate Religious Groups, and Most Gain, Including Muslims [The New York Times, 2017-02-15]
Americans Rate Jews Highest, Muslims Lowest On ‘Feeling Thermometer’ [The Huffington Post, 2017-0215]
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/02/15/group-seeks-removal-of-religious-posters-at-air-forcebase.html
Group Seeks Removal of Religious Posters at Air Force Base
By Oriana Pawlyk
Military.com, February 15, 2017
(Photo Credit: Courtesy of Military Religious Freedom
Foundation)
An advocacy group has filed a complaint with the Air Force
Inspector General's Office seeking the removal of religious-themed
posters at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia.
Mikey Weinstein, president and founder of The Military Religious
Freedom Foundation, said his organization opposes displaying the
posters at Air Combat Command facilities on the installation because they're "sexist, offensive" and use
male-dominated and faith-based speech.
The foundation represents 16 officers, non-commissioned officers and civilian clients -- including nine
women -- in its effort to remove the posters, he said.
One poster, located in Building 602, depicts lights beaming upward where the Twin Towers once stood
before the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and reads: "Men cannot live without faith except for brief moments of
anarchy or despair. Faith leads to convictions -- and convictions lead to action. It is only a man of deep
convictions, a man of deep faith, who will make the sacrifices needed to save his manhood." The line is
quoted from AF Manual 50-21, dated August 1955.
The command, after reviewing one complaint over the posters, said officials have "decided to leave the
display unaltered," spokesman Maj. AJ Schrag said in a statement to Military.com.
"The posters do not officially endorse, disapprove of, or extend preferential treatment for any faith, belief,
or absence of belief, which is the standard established by regulation that would warrant action," Schrag said
in an email Tuesday.
"The posters are historical, two in a series of seven quoting various sections of a 1955 Air Force Manual.
Although we do not have a record of when the posters were first displayed, they have been there at least six
years," he said.
"The literal meaning of the two quotes identified in the complaint -- the importance of personal faith in a
broad sense and the importance of an individual's rights and freedoms -- are appropriate and consistent with
established traditions of using historical documents to promote reflection and inspiration," Schrag said.
The incident snowballed last week after a female airman -- not identified by MRFF for fear of reprisal -responded to an Air Force Times' article spotlighting the issue over two posters.
"As a proud American woman and equally proud officer in the USAF, those posters from an AF Manual
from the mid-1950s serve only as a hurtful reminder of the second class citizenship women had to suffer
for generations prior to eventually being guaranteed equal status under the Constitution we all swear our
oaths to support and defend," the female airman wrote Feb. 8.
"It took decades of sacrifice and advocacy by strong women (and men who cared) to provide us a level
playing field today. But not at ACC, it seems," she wrote.
The command is headed by Gen. Herbert "Hawk" Carlisle.
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2017/02/15/group-seeks-removal-of-religious-posters-at-air-forcebase.html
Weinstein cited Air Force Instruction 1-1, section 2.11 in "Air Force Culture," which states that airmen,
especially commanders and supervisors, "must ensure that in exercising their right of religious free
expression, they do not degrade morale, good order, and discipline in the Air Force or degrade the trust and
confidence that the public has in the United States Air Force."
"Clearly, this is … having an adverse impact on unit cohesion, good order, morale and discipline," he said,
noting that more questionable posters have been identified. "It is wrong in every possible way."
Weinstein, who on Tuesday filed a third-party complaint with Brig. Gen Richard Coe, the inspector general
of Air Combat Command, is demanding the complaint be turned over to the Air Force's IG office, headed
by Lt. Gen. Anthony J. Rock, to avoid any conflict of interest of Coe's office investigating its own
command.
Weinstein said Carlisle "cannot have his own inspector general people look into this, because they report to
him."
In a letter last week to Carlisle, Weinstein said, "The message of male superiority is not only offensive, but
violates Air Force Regulation 1-1, Sections 1.7.4.4-1.8," which outlines the Air Force zero-tolerance policy
toward unlawful discrimination of any kind and the push for equal opportunity for all genders.
Should the Air Force IG not act accordingly, Weinstein said he and his clients are considering taking the
matter to federal district court in Virginia.
This "is clearly despicable and dishonest," Weinstein said. "Why they've chosen to go back over 60 years,
and celebrate something [from during] the Red Scare" is preposterous, he said. "And to try to argue that
they meet the standard … it's what we would call an ACC 'alternative fact,'" he said. "It's a lie."
The National Organization for Women has joined the MRFF in its mission to have the posters removed.
NOW President Terry O'Neill petitioned Carlisle with her own letter, stating, "What message does that
send to young women who currently serve, or want to serve, in the military? What do you say to the
women in your command who make the same sacrifices to protect their country as do men? Is the purpose
of the U.S. armed forces really to assist 'only' men to make sacrifices necessary to save their 'manhood?'"
O'Neill added, "This offensive propaganda must NOT be allowed to continue on display at ACC
Headquarters."
Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214.
https://www.dvidshub.net/news/223731/only-buddhist-chaplain-department-navy
The only Buddhist chaplain in the Department of the Navy
Defense Video Imagery Distribution System, February 14, 2017
U.S. Navy Reserve Chaplain Aroon Seeda reunites with his primary school teacher Mrs.
Pairor Sa-ngiemrat after more than 30 years during a visit to Wat Sam Nakkaton school
on Feb. 14 near Sattahip, Thailand by U.S. service members for exercise Cobra Gold
2017. The Thai-U.S. co-sponsored exercise represents the longstanding friendship
between the Thai and American people and their commitment to work together in
support of peace and security in the region. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Matthew Sissel)
Walking along a beach road in Thailand, 13-year-old Aroon Seeda, a novice
monk, carries his food bowl while looking for the next contribution to sustain
him. The curious boy watches U.S. Marines conducting amphibious exercises
along the shore as the morning sun continues to rise. He decides to make his way
to their camp up ahead.
The orange-robe of the teenager presents a stark visual contrast with the camouflaged uniform of the
Marine who approaches and asks him a question. Having learned some rudimentary English at school, the
monk-in-training translates the foreign sounds as best as he can and offers a simple response: “I am monk.
I’m here for food.” The American tells him to wait, and the young Buddhist watches him briefly disappear
into a tent. The Marine returns and places a packaged MRE (meal, ready-to-eat) into Aroon’s food bowl. A
friendship is born.
Through a series of hand gestures and broken English, the shaved-headed youth offers to escort a couple of
Marines to his temple and boarding school for a tour. The Marines agree and spend some of their time at
the school helping novice monks with their English homework. Aroon would later say that this interaction
with the Marines created a burning desire within him to speak English.
Novice monks are allowed to have an extremely limited number of personal possessions, so when his new
American friend presented him the gift of a pen bearing the image of an American flag, it immediately
became his prized possession and a powerful symbol. “The pen was a symbol of friendship and represented
hope,” Aroon recalled.
This chance encounter between a young Buddhist monk and a U.S. Marine happened in 1988 during the 7th
annual Cobra Gold, a Kingdom of Thailand and United States co-sponsored military exercise in support of
their commitment to work together in support of peace and security in the region.
Aroon said his American friend drew an outline of a map of the United States in the sand and pointed to a
place called Virginia, which is where the Marine said he was from. “He told me that someday maybe I
could go to America.”
That day came in 2001. Aroon was now a full-fledged Buddhist monk and wanted to make an impact in the
lives of people beyond Thailand. He moved to California and worked as a Buddhist minister, but after
several years found that he was only affecting California’s Thai community.
The desire to reach a diverse group of people led him to consider enlisting in the U.S. Navy. Chaplains in
the Navy directly serve not only Navy personnel, but also service members in the Marines and Coast
Guard. “I thought I could serve my mission better by helping U.S. service members cope with the stress
that results from their jobs.”
He enlisted in the U.S. Navy Reserves in 2008 with the goal of becoming a chaplain. He received his
citizenship several months after completing basic training and attained his goal in two years and seven
https://www.dvidshub.net/news/223731/only-buddhist-chaplain-department-navy
months. Chaplain Aroon Seeda is the only Buddhist chaplain in the Department of the Navy and currently
serves with Navy Reserve Religious Ministry Support, Marine Corps Forces, Pacific, Navy Operations
Support Center, Los Angeles.
Today, the 42-year-old lieutenant is back in Thailand and dressed in camouflage for the 36th iteration of
Cobra Gold. On Feb. 14, he visited the Wat Sam Nakkaton primary school with other U.S. military
personnel to drop off school supplies and soccer balls and to spend time with the children.
Chaplain Seeda knows firsthand the impact these interactions can have on the children, but he also stressed
the importance it has for the servicemembers as well.
“Community relations events open our hearts to other cultures. It’s an opportunity to learn about culture
through people, not books. When they give a soccer ball to a child, they can feel that moment. They can
experience how it feels when you help people. You learn to appreciate people and to see other humans as
friends and family.”
Cobra Gold’s focus has shifted over the years to place a greater emphasis on community engagement. The
U.S. military is participating in 15 of these events during the 11-day exercise as part of the longstanding
friendship between the Thai and American people.
The school is located a short distance from Chaplain Seeda’s childhood home where his parents still live,
and the U.S. military has already made an impact there, having built two of its structures during Cobra
Gold 2002. The school’s director Preedee Ratcha Punt said the buildings have seen extensive use by not
only the school but also the community. There have even been wedding ceremonies performed there.
As the Navy chaplain walked the grounds of the school that prominently features a Buddhist temple, a
teacher that looked familiar to him approached him and asked, “Are you Aroon?” He answered and then
recognized her as Mrs. Pairor Sa-ngiemrat, his primary school teacher at Nong Ma Pring from the ages of
seven to nine. They haven’t seen each other for more than 30 years. He attempted to bow to show her
honor, but she gave him a big hug instead as their eyes welled up with tears.
“I am very proud of him and happy to see him,” she said after catching up and taking photos together.
“I couldn’t be here without what she taught me,” he said. “I hold the frame, but she put the puzzle pieces
together that make the picture. I consider her my second mother.”
Chaplain Seeda’s credits his roots in the Kingdom of Thailand with making him who he is today. His
childhood as a novice monk provided him with a foundation for inner peace, skills that he now shares to
help a diverse audience in the United States.
In California, Seeda works with prison inmates as a staff chaplain for the Federal Bureau of Prisons at the
Federal Corrections Complex, Victorville. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Theology from the
University of the West. The topic of his dissertation is the use of Buddhist principles and values in helping
both civilians and service members recover from trauma and PTSD.
After spending the morning with the children of Wat Sam Nakkaton primary school, Chaplain Seeda drove
together with a fellow Christian chaplain to share a meal with his parents. Upon greeting his parents, he
moved to his knees and bowed to each of them three times. “My father taught me to respect the people
around me and to become part of their family,” he said.
After the short visit with his family, he got back in the van to continue not only his military mission in
Thailand but also his life’s mission in the world – to cultivate peace.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/16/living/jcc-bomb-threats-anti-semitism/index.html
‘Telephone terrorism’ has rattled 48 Jewish centers. Is
anyone paying attention?
By Daniel Burke
CNN, February 16, 2017
Jewish Community Center evacuation
Samantha Taylor was at Orlando's Jewish Community Center for a
morning meeting when she heard reports of a bomb threat crackle
from the director's walkie-talkie.
Her daughter attends preschool there; she ran to the classroom and
evacuated with the students and teachers.
While police and bomb-sniffing dogs searched the building for several hours, the teachers kept the children
calm and happy at a safe spot down the street, Taylor said. No explosives were found.
On the same day, January 4, an Orlando Chabad center also received a threatening call, marking the first
trickle in what would soon swell to waves of calls menacing Jewish institutions across the country.
In all, 48 JCCs in 27 states and one Canadian province received nearly 60 bomb threats during January,
according to the JCCA, an association of JCCs. Most were made in rapid succession on three days: January
9, 18 and 31. A number of JCCs, including Orlando's, received multiple threats.
In a statement, the FBI said the bureau and the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division are
"investigating possible civil rights violations in connections with threats to Jewish Community Centers
across the country."
The JTA, a Jewish news agency, says it has obtained a recording of one of the calls. On it, the caller says a
C-4 bomb has been placed in the JCC and that "a large number of Jews are going to be slaughtered."
Several JCC sources said the FBI has told them it is investigating the calls as hate crimes. Online, another
term has circulated: "telephone terrorism."
"I've been in the business for 20-plus years, and this is unprecedented," said Paul Goldenberg, national
director of the Secure Community Network, which advises Jewish organizations on security. "It's more
methodical than meets the eye."
No bombs have been found, but Jewish leaders hesitate to label the calls "hoaxes." The chaos and terror the
calls have caused are real, as are more tangible consequences.
JCCs across the country are bolstering security and holding town halls to calm frightened parents. Still,
several centers have seen students withdraw from their early childhood education programs, typically
reliable sources of revenue. As a result, some are slashing budgets, cutting staff and holding emergency
fundraisers.
In Orlando's JCC, 50 students have been withdrawn from its daycare and preschool. In Albany, New York,
12 families have removed their children.
"If we happen to be on the list again," said Adam Chaskin, director of Albany's JCC, "that number 12 is
going to grow."
Meanwhile, JCC members are commiserating on social media, sharing poignant pictures of evacuation
cribs left in frozen parking lots and teachers herding children to safety.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/16/living/jcc-bomb-threats-anti-semitism/index.html
Some parents wonder why the threats haven't garnered more media attention and lament the spike in hate
crimes seemingly incited by the divisive 2016 presidential campaign.
Others agonize about whether to withdraw their children from JCC schools and cringe when they hear a
text message alert on their phones.
"Everywhere I went I had my phone out front and center," said Taylor, a 37-year-old mother of three. "It
was like: OK, when is it going to happen again?"
A community on edge
Like YMCAs, Jewish Community Centers pride themselves on being open to all members of all faiths, and
a fair number of their students are not Jewish.
But for many Jews, JCCs aren't just about schools and swimming lessons. They're hubs of Jewish social
life: places where their children learn Jewish history, their families celebrate Purim parties, and one of the
few spots where Jews of all denominations put aside their religious and political differences.
"So much of being Jewish is built around community," said Jordana Horn, a mother of six in New Jersey
whose children and parents both frequent the local JCC. "Everything from prayer to mourning to
celebration you need to have a community around you. You need to have a place where everyone can
gather."
For secular Jews, the JCC may be one of the few institutional sources of knowledge about Jewish culture
and tradition.
Daniel Mauser and Kristina Kasper, who live in San Diego with their two children, don't belong to a local
synagogue but send their son to a JCC preschool. It's the best in the area, they said.
Still, they know that the school, which received a bomb threat on January 31, comes with risks.
"Even though it's a wonderful environment, I know that, in sending my son to a Jewish preschool, it's a
target," said Kasper, a former New York City schoolteacher.
Not all of the threats against JCCs in recent memory have been empty.
In 2014, a white supremacist murdered two people outside a Jewish Community Center in Overland Park,
Kansas. In 2006, a man fired shots at the Jewish Federation of Seattle, killing one woman and injuring five
others. Five years before that, another man opened fire at the JCC in Granada Hills, California, wounding
five people, including a 5-year-old boy.
In 2014 and 2015 the FBI tallied more than 1,270 hate crime incidents targeting Jews, far more than any
other religious groups, and some Jewish leaders say the situation is getting worse.
In the past several months, synagogues and schools have been vandalized, swastikas have been scrawled in
New York City subway cars and Jewish families have been harassed by neo-Nazis.
"We are in a volatile and fast-growing threat environment," said Jonathan Greenblatt of the AntiDefamation League. "The Jewish community has been on edge."
Asked on Wednesday whether his campaign rhetoric could have caused a spike in anti-Semitism, President
Donald Trump demurred. He talked about his election victory, then mentioned his daughter, Ivanka -- who
converted to Judaism -- her husband Jared Kushner and their children.
"I think that you're going to see a lot different United States of America over the next three, four, or eight
years. I think a lot of good things are happening, and you're going to see a lot of love."
http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/16/living/jcc-bomb-threats-anti-semitism/index.html
Trump made no mention of the bomb threats, though they have frightened and befuddled many Jewish
parents.
Little is known about the calls themselves. Goldenberg, the security adviser, says the caller uses
sophisticated voice-masking technology. It's difficult to discern if it's a male or female voice, or how old
the caller is.
"They could be 15 or 60 years old. These masking technologies are very effective."
Chillingly, the perpetrator also uses technology to make the calls seem as if they're coming from within the
JCC itself.
'How serious is it?'
The photo of the worried woman pushing an evacuation crib outside the Albany JCC -- that's the image that
roiled Kveller.com's Facebook group for mothers, said Deborah Kolben, editor of the Jewish parenting
website.
Since the threats began, Kveller has run at least five columns about them. Some of the writers are
distraught. "Did the people who decided to call in a bomb threat wish it was real?" asked one mother. "Did
they think about my babies and wish that they could really blow them up?"
Others columnists were more defiant. "I'm not scared to be a proud Jewish mother in the United States of
America in 2017," wrote Jordana Horn, "and neither should you be."
Other Jewish mothers say they don't know what to make of the bomb threats, or how they should react.
"The question is: How serious is it?" said Elissa Strauss, a parenting columnist for Slate whose son attends
a JCC preschool. "That's what I, as a Jew and a parent, am trying to work out. I don't think I have a clear
understanding of what I'm supposed to do right now, besides not give in."
Strauss said the relative lack of media coverage about the threats adds to her perplexity. She's not alone:
"48 U.S. Jewish Centers Received Bomb Threats in Past Month," ran a headline in Haaretz. "'Why Is No
One Talking About This?'"
Parents are asking: Is it because no bombs have exploded? Because the protection of children is seen
primarily as a "women's issue"? Because Trump's chaotic new administration dominates news cycles? Or
because JCC leaders are trying to quiet the story for fear of panicking parents and losing students?
Ivy Harlev, director of the JCC in Wilmington, Delaware, which received two bomb threats last month,
says she is "torn" about whether more media should have covered the threats.
"I don't want that kind of negative attention, but I want to make sure that people know that we are a secure
place, and that we have the support of local law enforcement."
Like many JCCs that have received threats, Harlev's quickly assembled a town hall so parents could
question administrators, local police and FBI representatives. Two families decided to withdraw their
children from the JCC's early childhood education program, Harlev said.
In Albany, Orlando and elsewhere, JCC staffers have tried to bolster security -- and ease parents' peace of
mind -- by closing entrances, blocking phone calls from unknown numbers and posting bollards to block
vehicles from getting close to their buildings.
At least one family was satisfied by the changes.
For nearly four years, Melissa Braillard, a mother of two in Orlando, had sent her children to the JCC. She
knew and liked the teachers, the administrators, the other parents and their children.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/16/living/jcc-bomb-threats-anti-semitism/index.html
"I feel like I had a support system, and people cared for us."
But after the third bomb threat and weeks of worrying, Braillard removed her children from the JCC. "I
need to keep my kids safe," she thought at the time.
A few weeks later, though, Braillard agreed to return to the Orlando JCC to see its security improvements.
She came away impressed.
Because her son would be starting kindergarten soon at another school anyway, he is not returning to the
JCC. But her daughter will be back in the classroom on Monday.
On March 8, the Orlando JCC is holding a fundraiser, where it hopes to raise $200,000 to help the center
break even for the year. It has already found three donors to match donations, potentially quadrupling the
windfall.
Meanwhile, parents like Taylor, the mother who witnessed the first bomb threat, are determined to keep the
doors open. "Our JCC isn't going anywhere," she said, "and that's the most important message."
Sexism
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/02/14/its-2017-and-girls-still-dont-thinkthey-are-as-smart-as-boys-research-shows/
It’s 2017, and girls still don’t think they are as smart as
boys, research shows
By Valerie Strauss
The Washington Post, February 14, 2017
(iStock)
Gender stereotypes live on: Research published in the journal
Science found that girls starting at the age of 6 are less likely than
boys of the same age to believe that girls are “really, really smart.”
Four studies — done by Lin Bian of the University of Illinois in
Urbana-Champaign, Sarah-Jane Leslie of Princeton University
and Andrei Cimpian of New York University — looked at children
from ages 5 to 7 to understand when girls start to believe this about members of their own gender — even
though they know that girls get better grades in school. This research builds on earlier work bearing out the
phenomenon, including a 2015 study, led by Leslie, showing that the stereotype that women are not
naturally “brilliant” like men could explain their underrepresentation in academia.
The Science article describing the research, titled “Gender stereotypes about intellectual ability emerge
early and influence children’s interests,” says that girls at age 6 begin to avoid certain activities that they
believe are only for the “really, really smart” children — boys.
The results suggest that children’s ideas about brilliance exhibit rapid changes over the period from
ages 5 to 7. At 5, boys and girls associated brilliance with their own gender to a similar extent. …
Despite this strong tendency to view one’s gender in a positive light, girls aged 6 and 7 were
significantly less likely than boys to associate brilliance with their own gender. Thus, the “brilliance
= males” stereotype may be familiar to, and endorsed by, children as young as 6. The stereotype
associating females with being nice seems to follow a similar developmental trajectory.
The researchers also found that children’s beliefs about gender and brilliance shaped their interests, with
girls at the age of 6 starting to choose games not considered to be for the really smart kids. They also found
that the difference in boys’ vs. girls’ interest in the brilliance games was specifically determined “by their
perceptions about brilliance, pinpointing these stereotyped perceptions (rather than modesty) as the
underlying mechanism.” They concluded that the stereotype that boys are brilliant and girls aren’t — which
is common in American society — may cause girls to narrow the careers they decide to pursue later in life.
In part of the research, children listened to a story about a “really, really smart” person and were asked to
guess which of four adults — two men and two women — was the main character. Boys and girls ages 5
viewed their own gender positively but by 6, girls were much less likely than boys to link brilliance with
their gender — and the differences were largely similar across socioeconomic and racial-ethnic
backgrounds.
In a piece in the New York Times, two of the researchers, Cimpian and Leslie, wrote this:
What is to be done? Research provides some clues. The psychologist Carol Dweck has written that
emphasizing the importance of learning and effort — rather than just innate ability — for success in
any career might buffer girls against these stereotypes. The relevant stereotypes, already in place at
the age of 6, seem to fixate on who is supposed to have innate ability. If innate ability is seen as
secondary, then the power of these stereotypes is diminished. Other research indicates that
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/02/14/its-2017-and-girls-still-dont-thinkthey-are-as-smart-as-boys-research-shows/
providing girls with successful role models might similarly “inoculate” them, boosting their
motivation and protecting them from the idea that they are not intellectually competitive.
One study even suggested that witnessing a more equal distribution of household chores could help
balance the career aspirations of boys and girls.
Here’s a piece that argues that another way for girls to counter these “boys=brilliance” stereotypes is to go
to school with girls. This was written by Wendy L. Hill, head of the Agnes Irwin School — an all-girls,
nonsectarian college preparatory day school for students from pre-K through 12, in Rosemont, Pa., and the
Rappolt Professor Emerita of Neuroscience at Lafayette College, a private liberal arts college based in
Easton, Pa.
By Wendy L. Hill:
During a recent visit to the Franklin Institute’s Your Brain exhibit, which, as a neuroscientist, is a favorite
of mine, I overheard a conversation between a mother and her two young children. I like to hear how
parents explain neuroscience principles to their kids and so, I admit, I found myself eavesdropping on their
conversation.
The mother attempted to answer their flurry of questions, and it was in this moment that I realized one child
was a boy and the other was a girl — and not because the mother called her children by name. It was clear
because of how she answered their questions: The boy was getting explanations about how
neurotransmitters work, while the girl received simple directions on how to spin the wheel of the exhibit.
Psychologists have demonstrated that girls, even those as young as 1 to 3 years of age, often get short shrift
in answers as compared with boys when visiting science museums. One can’t help but consider how these
interactions can lead to gender stereotypes about science and cognitive style. These interactions and others
no doubt contribute to the well-known gender stereotype that men are more likely to be “brilliant”— think
Albert Einstein — than women.
Recent research by Lin Bian, Sarah-Jane Leslie and Andrei Cimpian — published in the journal Science —
has now demonstrated that the acquisition of the male=brilliant stereotype occurs very early in children. Up
to age 5, there is no difference between girls and boys for which gender is more likely to be “really, really
smart” — kid-speak for being “brilliant.”
The researchers found, however, that by age 6, girls are less likely than boys to think that female students
can be brilliant. In elegant studies, Bian and her colleagues further demonstrate that the girls’ perceptions
guided their decisions about which games they choose — avoiding ones categorized as for “really, really
smart” kids — whereas boys were more attracted to these games. The researchers suggest the early
development of the male=brilliant stereotype could eventually influence later career choices, given that
societal messages reinforce that being an engineer or scientist is only reserved for those with the most
rarefied intellect.
As the head of an all-girls school, I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of schools the girls attended in the
Science study. Cimpian, associate professor from New York University and one of the authors of the
research, confirmed my assumption that all the children were from coed schools. It would be worthwhile to
conduct a follow-up study that compares the development of the brilliant=male stereotype for girls from
all-girls schools and those attending coed schools.
Why? Because there is evidence that being exposed to an all-girls education can decrease gender
stereotypes for girls. Examples abound in my own school. One of my favorites is when we asked first-grade
girls two years in a row to draw a scientist. All of them, without exception, drew a female scientist. This is
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/02/14/its-2017-and-girls-still-dont-thinkthey-are-as-smart-as-boys-research-shows/
in stark contrast with research findings that suggest that both girls and boys are more likely to draw a male
when given a similar prompt.
This is remarkable, given the barrage of information about gender stereotypes children receive while they
are not in school: from the media, from interactions with friends and families and from reading books and
watching movies. The fact that girls schools can counteract this deluge speaks to the importance of having
this “stereotype inoculation” occur as early as possible — for example, in elementary school.
The early development of the brilliant=male stereotype and the robust effect on the activities girls choose to
pursue can be pretty depressing for parents trying to raise our daughters to believe in gender equality and
instill in them the confidence that they have as much potential as our boys. Given the early internalization
of the brilliant=male stereotype, it would be all too easy to feel defeated in our desire to empower our girls.
I have spent many years in the neuroscience lab, and have taught thousands of undergraduate students. The
brain, I know, is a malleable organ. It continues to grow and develop throughout our lifetime, with new
cells and pathways created in response to experience and effort. One way to inoculate girls against the
stereotypes with which they will be inundated and which threaten to undermine their confidence is to let
them benefit from an environment where their brilliance will be a matter of course.
Sexual Assault /
Harassment
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/02/14/air-force-general-arthur-lichte-lashes-back-sexcharges-brands-accuser-liar/97909626/
Air Force general lashes back at sex charges, brands accuser
a liar
By Tom Vanden Brook
USA TODAY, February 14, 2017
Retired Air Force general Arthur Lichte defends himself against sex
allegations (Photo: Air Force)
WASHINGTON — The Air Force general stripped of two ranks and
docked $60,000 in pension for forcing a subordinate to have sex sought
to brand his accuser a liar bent on enriching herself, Air Force records
show.
General Arthur Lichte, who had been a four-star officer in charge of Air
Force Mobility Command, was demoted in retirement to major general
Feb. 1 following an investigation that found he had coerced a subordinate
officer into sex on three separate occasions.
The woman’s account of their relationship was “false,” Lichte wrote in his
response to the Air Force’s investigation. His lawyer, in supporting documents, called Lichte the “victim”
of a woman who sought to cash in on disability payments for sexual trauma from the Department of
Veterans Affairs. He also blasted the Air Force for not having a sworn statement from the woman to back
her claims.
In the end, Air Force officials tossed aside Lichte’s defense. Then-Air Force Secretary Deborah James fired
off a caustic letter of reprimand in December, calling his conduct “disgraceful” and but for the statute of
limitations, worth prosecuting as a sex crime.
His punishment: the reprimand, loss of two stars and a cut in pension from about $216,000 per year to
$156,000.
Lichte thus joined the ranks of the disgraced military brass, including Army Brig. Gen. Ronald Lewis, who
a little more than a year ago had been a three-star general and the top military adviser to the secretary of
Defense. Last week, Lewis too, was reprimanded and demoted to one star after the Army accepted the
findings of an inspector general report that found he had frequented sex clubs on business trips, drank to
excess and had cavorted inappropriately with female subordinates.
Lichte defended himself by questioning the credibility of the woman, an active-duty colonel, whose name
has not been released. The documents also show Lichte and his lawyer questioned her motives for bringing
charges almost a decade after the sexual encounters.
His demotion to major general occurred because that is the last rank at which he was found to have served
satisfactorily. The inappropriate sex happened when he was a three- and four-star officer. Lichte told Air
Force inspector general investigators that he believed their three sexual encounters, two in 2007 and one in
2009, were consensual; she told them she felt coerced, although she did not protest at the time or struggle
with him physically.
“The greater weight of credible evidence in this matter establishes that General (ret.) Lichte remains and
honest and compassionate officer who fell victim to an opportunistic subordinate,” Lichte’s attorney, Larry
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/02/14/air-force-general-arthur-lichte-lashes-back-sexcharges-brands-accuser-liar/97909626/
Youngner wrote. The woman targeted “Lichte for her personal and financial gain, to include Veterans
Affairs (VA) disability benefits in retirement.”
Former Air Force secretary Deborah James. (Photo: Cliff Owen,
Cliff Owen, AP)
Although Lichte retired in 2009, the woman stayed in touch with
him through mid-2016. She contacted him by email, phone and in at
least one visit to the Tampa area to play golf and have dinner with
him and his wife, according to Youngner's account of their
relationship.
“She did not behave as though she had been sexually assaulted, but
rather as one who enjoyed the spotlight of General (ret.) Lichte’s company and basked in his influence on
her behalf when she requested his help,” Youngner wrote. “She did not cut off all contact as would be
expected of someone experiencing trauma from a non-consensual assault years earlier.”
Youngner suggested money may have motivated Lichte’s accuser. The colonel stood to gain as much as
$3,000 per month in disability payments, he wrote.
Youngner and Lichte also pleaded with the Air Force to consider his 38 years of service as a mitigating
factor in seeking a milder punishment, a letter of admonition.
“I was a very dedicated Airman,” Lichte wrote.
Lichte’s defense rang hollow with Don Christensen, president of Protect Our Defenders, an advocacy group
for victims of sexual assault in the military.
“It’s a common tactic to try to smear the victim,” said Christensen, who once served as the Air Force’s top
prosecutor. He reviewed Lichte’s documents, which were released late last week.
The victim could not gain veterans benefits by making her claims to the Air Force; that determination is
made by medical diagnosis, said Christensen. She is also bound by law to make truthful statements whether
sworn or not, Christensen said.
Christensen scoffed at what he called the “I’m-a-Great-Guy” defense. Lichte has admitted to having sex
outside marriage three times, a violation of military law, Christensen said.
The Air Force stands by its findings, Col. Pat Ryder, a spokesman, said Tuesday.
The investigation revealed that Lichte "engaged in inappropriate sexual acts while a subordinate while he
served on active duty — conduct that was fundamentally counter to what the Air Force expects and
demands and he was held accountable for his actions," Ryder said in a statement. "This is unfortunate on
many levels: first and foremost, for the victim, and then for the damage that such actions have on our
culture of standards and trust."
Lichte plans to appeal the Air Force decision, Youngner said in a statement.
“General Lichte completely denies the unsworn allegations of sexual assault made against him, as shown in
his response to the reprimand," Youngner said. "We intend to appeal the Air Force’s wrong decision
concerning this unsworn accusation and the grade determination through proper channels."