#126 Celebrating 50 Years Of Women At The Naval Academy

50 years ago, women showed up on I-day for the first time at the Naval Academy.  That’s why this milestone weekend in Annapolis feels so big, and why we wanted the real story behind it. Marie (USNA ’86) and Adrienne (USNA ’06) join us to share how USNA Women Writ Large and the USNA Women's SIG are bringing more than 850 people together April 16 to 19 for a conference, gala, and a full-on celebration of women’s impact across the Navy, Marine Corps, government, and beyond. 

We dig into what a SIG actually is, how USNA Women operates as an apolitical nonprofit, and the kinds of programs it supports, from professional development to midshipman engagement. Marie and Adrienne also walk through the event logistics so you can plan your trip: the reception, the conference days at the Fluegel Alumni Center, the gala transformation, and the Sunday “welcome by the decade” built to connect alumni directly with the next generation of mids.

The Schedule of Events and panel details are available on myUSNA.

USNA Women’s 50 Year page will have the most up-to-date information about the event, so be sure to check it before you leave for Annapolis.

The Vermeer Group is a residential real company matching military families with trusted real estate teams across the country.  If you have any real estate questions at all, please text Grant at (650) 282-1964 or email grant@thevermeergroup.com

To stay most up to date with Grant, Naval Academy updates, and real estate insights, follow him on LinkedIn

The mission of Academy Insider is to guide, serve, and support Midshipmen, future Midshipmen, and their families.

This podcast is independently produced and reflects the views and opinions of its creators. It is not officially affiliated with, endorsed by, or representative of the United States Naval Academy or its affiliates.

Grant Vermeer your host is the person who started it all.  He is the founder of Academy Insider and the host of The Academy Insider podcast. He was a recruited athlete which brought him to Annapolis where he was a four year member of the varsity basketball team. He was a cyber operations major and commissioned into the Cryptologic Warfare Community. He was stationed at Fort Meade and supported the Subsurface Direct Support mission.

He separated from the Navy in 2023 and now owns The Vermeer Group, a residential real estate company that matches service academy families with trusted real estate teams all across the country.  Text (650) 282-1964 with any real estate questions.

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Transcript

Welcome And Audio Disclaimer

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Welcome back to the Academy Insider Podcast. Today's episode is a discussion all about the USA Women's Special Interest Group and an incredible celebration that they are hosting April 16th through 19th in Annapolis, Maryland, to celebrate 50 years of women at the Naval Academy. Joined by Marie and Adrian, who you're gonna get to meet in the episode. And this is a super fun opportunity to have a discussion about all of the hard work that they have put into creating this event. What you're also gonna discover is a wild amount of technical incompetence on my part. I somehow managed to mess up both my own audio and video in this whole thing. And so basically what's gonna happen is you're gonna hear live portions of the interview and the podcast from both Marie and Adrian, but you're gonna have me right here kind of interjecting and talking about like what I did ask them in the moment because I managed to lose the video and audio. So have fun with this makeshift kind of separate sequence, potentially from what you're used to in the Academy Insider podcast world. I hope you enjoy it. I think you're still gonna get a lot out of it. Let me know if you have any questions and enjoy this. Before we get started, I want to make a quick disclaimer to make sure everyone knows Academy Insider and myself, Grant Fremier, are in no ways official representatives of the United States Naval Academy, the Navy, andor the Department of War. What I'm doing here again is just trying to provide a little bit of context perspective and understanding to the Naval Academy journey. But my use of the Naval Academy and conversation about them does not imply endorsement from the institution. All right, we're starting with introductions, background childhood, will it led them to the Naval Academy, Navy and Marine Corps careers, starting with Marie. Take a listen. Hope you enjoy.

SPEAKER_00 1:55

Hi, well, Grant, can't tell you how excited we are to be joining you. I love Academy Insider. Wish this was around when I was a midshipman candidate or something for me to pass on to my family to listen to about all the episodes that you cover in terms of life as a midshipman. I'm an 86th grad of the United States Naval Academy. I went to the Naval Academy via NAPS and from the state of Arizona. I'm a volleyball player, was recruited to play and agreed to direct via NAPS into the Academy versus a Razzi scholarship that I had with Georgetown. Don't regret it. I was in the 35th company, and I'm at a point in my life and career where I'm telling everyone I'm on preferment, not retired, not on a sabbatical, but doing what I prefer. And one of the things that I prefer is to support and give back to the community and to those that established my own foundation that I was able to offer then for my family and girls. I'm a dual mill. My husband, ironically, is proud to say he's not an academy grad, but he did retire a helicopter pilot. We raised three girls that are now all married and making us grandparents, and one is active in the reserves herself. The other two are married to military guys.

SPEAKER_01 3:14

Amazing. Thank you so much, Graham, for having us. I obviously have been following you for quite a while. We touch base on a lot of the Annapolis home stuff and just excited to be on this. I'd be remiss if I didn't say how excited I was to be a part of USNA Women Writ Large. It's been an amazing experience for me. I am, I don't know if this is a unique thing for you, but I'm also a napster. Marie and I are holding it down with our naps background. I was there during 9-11. So 2001 came into the academy, was recruited to play basketball. So you also have napsers and athletes on this at the same time. I feel like that's a win-win. We can just end it there. And so a 2006 grad, I was in 19th company. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. They were standing up the spirit squad at the start of it before it was pretty formalized. So I got to do that my senior year and traveled around, face painted, met John McCain and had the time of my life. Was originally Navy pilot out of school, transitioned into Navy Intel immediately. And so I consider myself a career Intel officer. Did that up until last July, retired in July 2025. I was in Virginia Beach for the final two tours of my career and met my now husband. So we got married on December 31st and tied the knot. We decided to move to Florida. And so this is might be the first for a lot of people, but we are now residents of Florida and excited to start our lives down here. And we're closer to family. It's been an amazing experience. And part of my, as I mentioned in the initial comments, was to be a part of something after I retired. And I think I was just so naive in 2006, understanding how many years of women had come before me. And so this has just been an amazing experience to do this in my retirement feed. So I give Marie a hard time all the time. She still is a taskmaster, and it feels like this is a full-time job, but in the best way possible because we are so excited about the 50-year event. So I know we'll get to that later, but it's been an amazing uh group of women to be a part of, and just all the women and male support has been phenomenal.

SPEAKER_02 5:21

The next question was all about what is, first of all, like a special interest group and what is the USA Women's SIG, the special interest group. How does it work? How does it function? How do people join and just a little bit about it? So take a listen and I hope you enjoy.

SPEAKER_00 5:35

Yeah, great question. And USA Women Shared Interest Group has been a nonprofit for the last three years, been in existence longer than that. And by every alumni raising their hand on iDay, they're a member of the USA Women Shared Interest Group. As a nonprofit, we've got a board of very well represented, accomplished individuals that are graduates through many various different decades and years. And we're led by Posty Linda Postenreiter, class of 82s, the president, and Meg Nix, our vice president, and then Adrian and I do have board seats. But as a nonprofit, apolitical, we do have four program areas that we support and professional development, midshipment engagement, there to name a couple. USNA Women took on the role to sponsor the 50-year celebration, which the 30th and 40th were done by the Academy itself directly with the Naval Institute and an Athena conference. And walking into this year to have a 50-year celebration event in partnership with the Alumni Association. And what we have planned April 16th through 19th, we're all quite proud and excited for the over 850 individuals that'll be joining us that weekend at the conference and gala.

Why The 50-Year Milestone Matters

SPEAKER_02 7:16

So as you can see, there is so much support, which is truly incredible. And now you may have heard it a couple times in this previous segment and me mention it in the introduction, which is the celebration of 50 years of women at the Naval Academy. That is gonna be this next portion of the episode. I kind of ask them exactly what that means and how this is gonna play out in Annapolis coming up in April. Alright, so this is where I'm gonna come in and actually double down. You know, I did kind of riff a little bit about this live on the podcast and you know, while we were having the conversation, but I just want to double down on the fact that 50 years is not that long ago. Like that these are recent changes in our greater history, and it's truly incredible what the women of the Naval Academy have been able to do in their contributions to the Naval Academy, to the Navy and Marine Corps, in citizenship, in government, and it's truly special. So I'm like, I'm again, having had the opportunity to talk with Marie and Adrian and highlight this event, it was really cool because uh it it truly is special. And it's still pretty recent. And so, again, to celebrate these things is really, really special. This next portion of the conversation is gonna be a little bit more about the logistics, right? Like if people still want to sign up, can they sign up? You know, logistically, what's actually happening, you know, what the schedule is, how things are slated, you know, who's talking, what panels they're gonna be, what events are happening. So this is gonna be more of a logistics side of the house. If you want to learn a little bit more about this 50 years of celebration, 50 years of women at the Naval Academy celebration coming up in April, take a listen.

SPEAKER_00 10:16

Absolutely, the registration is still open. I mentioned that we have 840 individuals signed up for the two and a half day conference, 16th through the 19th of April. We have a reception that Thursday afternoon. We move into a full conference day at the Flugal Alumni Center on Friday. The conference will conclude late afternoon, and then we turn that facility into a gala. Adrian is instrumental in the incredible glitz and glam that that's going to include. We have a conference on Saturday, and then we conclude with a first class welcome on Sunday. And what's exciting about that is the midshipmen from the class of 26 are all welcome the entire weekend, but that specific midshipmen are welcome the entire weekend. The 2026 first class welcome in the morning Sunday, uh April 19th is specifically for those midshipmen to welcome them. And we're doing a welcome by the decade. So Adrian being the class of 06 and me from 86. We have 86, 96, 06, 16 all standing by, ready to welcome 26 into the mold. And very, very excited about that opportunity. The conference each day, we have a number of panels and speakers. We've got an astronaut panel, we have a panel, a fireside chat with the C Admiral Frank Hetty, retired CNO 33. We've got an athletics leadership, women in athletics and leadership. We have a number of moderated by an alumni, but a credible panel of individuals that have used and explored and excelled in sports. We have other us that have gone out into corporate America business. This is an opportunity for everybody to hear, listen, engage, feel a sense of belonging, feel connected with somebody they hear and see. And we have a shipmate panel, so concurrent sessions, and thank you, Grant, for being one of the panelists on our shipmate panel where we're facilitated by the very own John Schofield and a number of other male allies to women and that through this experience.

Panels Speakers And Midshipmen Welcome

SPEAKER_02 12:32

So, as you heard, yes, I I will be speaking on a panel at the event, and I'm just like, I'm stoked. I'm stoked about the opportunity to you know make a tiny contribution and participate in this event. And it'll be special to be in Annapolis and and get to participate in this overall event that's going on and network and can and you know have conversation with so many incredible women who have come through Annapolis. So super stoked about that. In the conversation, we kind of pushed then a little bit to Adrian to ask about her experience at the Naval Academy, in the Navy, and you know, she had a really cool career. And so I'm excited for her to get to talk about her experience. Take a listen.

Adrian On NAPS Sports And Belonging

SPEAKER_01 13:14

Sure, I appreciate the question. I feel like for me, very much a proud entry point into naps for anyone that might be listening, as you said, for the first time, if you're doubting or you're a parent, or you have, you know, those letters coming in and you you're debating about naps. I would still to this day 100% say take take the opportunity, go to Newport, work on schoolwork, work on athletics, whatever you're doing, round out and become that, you know, even better midshipman candidate, as as Marie mentioned initially, because you're gonna be an even better midshipman. And I was so young, I really didn't understand that, but that really helped pave the way and make these unique relationships with prior enlisted folks, other athletes, people that I didn't realize had been trying for years and years and years to get to the academy. And so I feel like that level of respect was just heightened and emphasized as I entered in as a plebe into the Naval Academy. And for me, again, so I had that core group of friends from NAPS, and then I was lucky enough to be a part of a sports team. I very much felt like I always had a circuit around me. I always had a support group. I was very unique because I was from New Jersey. And if anybody knows the New Jersey Parents Club, shout out to them. They are amazing, they're always supportive. They welcome you and your friend and your plus 10 to come over and eat. And you never go hungry at a game. And if you are and you don't know about it, I'm sorry. But it's one of the best tailgates that there is. So for me, I always felt like, you know, team and the sports background for me was always just imperative, but it was always something that I felt a part of. And I know that's a unique experience. Not everybody has that, but I think I was also in a very unique situation because I was part of 10th company as a plebe. And then our ninth company, which was the sister company during plebe summer, wound up when we switched into sophomore year, our youngster year, we became 19th and 20th company. And so we actually stayed with that sister company throughout our four years. And that, again, for us became led us to become very, very close. And so I feel like we always had and we're always culturing and cultivating these new relationships, but also maturing as we matured throughout our time at the academy. And then, you know, upon graduation, you always had that link. You know, we we talk often about the link in the chain, but for me, it was just 19th company was very close, 20th company was very close. It really helped me understand that you really can't get through that place on your own, how important those friendships were. And then, you know, I talk a lot about when you come back for the reunions, you you always reminisce about the times you had, but you're always hanging out and making new relationships, even at the reunions. It's quite unique and it's really hard to put an old head on young shoulders because when you're there, you're really just trying to make it, you know, to the next class or or pass your pro dev and things like that. But I was fortunate enough to go back and teach there in 2019 in the cyber science department. And so for me, I had a moment where I feel like I was on a soapbox standing in front of them in my khakis, going, is this what my thermodynamics teacher was doing to me? And like I, I I could tell that they didn't care, but I was trying to use my fleet experience, having just come from NSA, really tried to make the cyber things make sense. And I think for me, that was really where the fleet experience tied back into the midshipmen. And I was so fortunate to go back there and teach before COVID that I really made unique relationships with them. And I realized how important that instructor and student relationship was, and then saw them in my last tour in the Navy. And so that was kind of a unique perspective as well. But the final thing I'll say is that, you know, the sports aspect of being part of the Naval Academy has paid dividends for me. It is the alumni association and how the teams are bringing back the alumni in a different capacity to show them behind the scenes the new locker room, how they're eating better, the quality of food, how King Hall is changed. Like seeing that and having the transparency as an alumni to what the midshipmen are now doing compared to what we used to do, which was run to the cart for the tuna and like the chickpeas we always joke about, I think has really made that circle sort of of life come together. And I'm shout out to the basketball team and Coach Taylor because allowing us as alumni to see what's going and changing and growing as well is very unique. And I hope if all of what I've just said and spewed out is something that the women and all the alumni, alumni that come back for our event take away. It's it's sharing your experiences, it's understanding where you came from, whether you had air conditioning or not, but that we are growing as women percentage-wise, which is amazing. That's we hope to continue to see that increase. But that it's really beneficial to hear out all of these stories and be a part and digest that and see how far we've come and just really, really continue to work on that relationship where we never lose sight and we never lose that tie, regardless of your experience. We hope, you know, we we understand and we're very cognizant that not everyone had a great experience, but we're showcasing 50 years of women so that everybody can come back to Annapolis to have an amazing experience during the conference, during the gala. You get to go back and see maybe your sports team, maybe go try to walk up appropriately into bankruptcy because it's you know the security concerns. But I think that's a large part walk back through T Corps, have all those floods of memories, good and bad, and be able to share that amongst the people that are alongside of you and sitting next to you during that entire weekend, which we just we hope is what it brings the best out of everything that the Naval Academy did for us.

Marie On 50 Years Of Change

SPEAKER_02 19:07

Tripling down on the fact that this is a big celebration of the incredible contributions that women have made to the Naval Academy, to the Navy and Marine Corps in citizenship, in government, and so many other factors. Again, will there be conversations about where we fall in short as an organization? Absolutely. Will there be conversations about, you know, what things need to continue to improve? Of course. But this event is a celebration. It is about highlighting the incredible achievements and actions that have been taken by women who have gone through the Naval Academy and have served our Navy and Marine Corps. It is a celebration, and it is acknowledgement of 50 years of tremendous hard work and grit and resilience. So I'm super excited, again, to really highlight that factor. The conversation then moves on to asking Marie a little bit about her career, her experience, and watching her peers, and quite literally, again, as she was on the earlier end of way the of the wave of women at the Naval Academy, how she's seen things progress and change over the 50 years. And I think this is a really interesting thing. Again, we have conversations a little bit about what's gotten better, what things still need to adjust, what things still need to change, about how things have moved forward in this organization. And I think you really enjoy it.

SPEAKER_00 20:24

Yeah, great question. In 50 years, a lot has changed. And first off, I want to say I'm one of those that was a midshipman when there was no AC, no computers issued, but and and combat exclusion laws were still in place. And so over 50 years we have women serving now on with combat exclusion laws lifted in all platforms. You know, the sky's the limit, the below sea is the is available for our submariner group. And so the incredible doors that have opened over the past 50 years and the work to rely on a fully integrated, you know, military defense and recognize the contributions that all in a united way do to making us stronger for the nation. So that found fundamentally, there's always more room for improvement. There's always more things to still do. But I'm a big believer that you don't um, if you forget history, it bears repeating. And so to appreciate what has been accomplished in 50 years, keeping those doors open, keeping people engaged and visible of the accomplishments, achievements, and the overall uniquely qualified integrated workforce that we have is is important. And we, you know, back in the 80s, as I said, we'll we'll hear the stories of how the academy wasn't quite ready to have women come, right? So heads were converted, but you'd walk in it, would have one toilet, but still the three urinals, right? Because they weren't really ready for just women. Our bathing suits had zippers in them and they weren't made out of, you know, mosquito, and yet we were pulling D1 qualified swimmers into the academy. All of that stuff, you know, through time gets gets appropriately redesigned and integrated. But those early 8% in the early classes to, you know, over 30% now with the doors are opened, you listen to the more recent classes and integration and working alongside and the acceptance and just an understanding that their counterpart sitting next to them as as qualified, you know, it's just expected. You know, so those and and so that's what uh that's what I would like to continue and hear, and just listening to Adrian, you know, just because of the unique difference in our class years is exciting. So Mid's looking now. I I love how she spoke to the midshipman candidates and the parents and the experience. I think those those doors remain and still should be opened and people opt to see it as an opportunity. That's your bent and that's how you want to give back and serve. You know, let's let's make sure that there's a clear awareness of that opportunity and we continue to sponsor and visualize women, you know, being being there.

SPEAKER_02 23:22

After this, we pushed the conversation back over to Adrian for a little bit about marketing. Again, the fact that they have over 800 people signed up for this event is truly incredible. Their ability to get the word out has been special. And so I talked to Adrian about her marketing efforts and how she was able to garner the support of the local Annapolis community, of businesses, and so many other entities to support and bring this to life. Take a listen.

SPEAKER_01 23:46

Yeah, thank you. So I would be remiss if I didn't say, you know, I was joking with I've every time I ask Marie something, I essentially task myself. So when I called her Taskmaster, it's because she's the one leading this entire effort and being able to oversee this huge umbrella, but utilizing and empowering all the other women to say, hey, what aligns with something that you not only are great at, but that you're super interested in. Because sometimes, as we know in the Navy or the Marine Corps or whatever service, that doesn't always, it's not always the case. And so I feel like they've the USNA Women has done a phenomenal job of aligning those responsibilities to people that have spokes out throughout all of their career, their second careers, their third careers, you know, the ability to be moms and caretakers and entrepreneurs and like you, you know, business folks that have really come together to say, I know this person, I can lean on this, or I feel like I'm gonna be good at the donations and the fundraising, or I'm really good at comms and organization and the secretarial work that's imperative that we keep ourselves as a new nonprofit aligned and then growing, and we want to grow exponentially. And so I think the biggest thing is again, the kudos to Marie and the team of women that I was able to join is that we've all worked together. And the thing that came to mind when Marie was just making her prior comments is this hashtag stronger together. And because we're able to all work so well together and fill in the gaps and also make really, really useful suggestions, and those people take that on and then carry it out is why we've been so successful within a year and a half. If you think about the level and the number of people, over 800, to have this come to fruition. It's been a lot of legwork, but it's a lot of people working in unison and kind of, you know, just this true understanding and level of respect of what we want to achieve come April. And so for me as a marketing person, I feel like I was able to move back to Annapolis. I worked at Fort Meade, and then I had follow-on orders at the Naval Academy. And so, you know, you invest in the city that you live in, you understand the importance of how Annapolis and the Naval Academy is different from all the other service academies. You get to walk out of gate and be in this amazing city that also loves and respects midshipmen. And without this unique symbiotic relationship, the city doesn't flourish if the mids aren't taken care of, and then the families don't want to come back, if the restaurants aren't, you know, on their A game, and then you want new businesses coming in, you want the Chipotle's and some of the Starbucks, but you want these unique businesses that are the stores that you want to stop in every single time and see the new the swag and gear. And anyway, so I say all that is because the the city of Annapolis has been amazing. We have folks from the city of Annapolis that have worked with us to ensure that the BWI airport is prepared. We have used a curated travel point of contact through a classmate who has ensured that we have the Weston, Fairfield, Graduate, all these hotels really, really making sure that they have come to support us, where whether that's an alumni owner or business partner or entryway point, or it's just the city of Annapolis rallying for us. We have Sailor Oyster Bar as one of our main contributors, tsunami, metro, lemongrass, Zachary's jewelers is working with us to help edit and upgrade our rings. And so they're showcasing specific nautical blue and gold jewelry. We have folks from East, excuse me, West Annapolis and then the Eastport area that have all come together, whether that's discounts in the restaurants and the stores, or we're doing with the class liaisons that Marie is in charge of. Everybody essentially has different uh venues or celebratory events on Saturday afternoon because that's the only portion of the day where we really get to like go back and say, hey, we want to hang out with just our classmates, or kind of sit around the fireplace at the hotel and get together, or hang out at the graduate in the backyard if the weather's nice. And so all of these organizations, businesses, and companies have really come together to just not only support us, but honestly grant catapult us to the next level. If it's a gift card, if it's a donation, if it's, you know, opportunities to partner with them and essentially establish that and then continue to grow that, then we're excelling. And we are so grateful for this, the larger city of Annapolis for their support. It has been refreshing, amazing, overwhelming in all the best ways for the people and the number of folks that have come to support us. And so my last plug would be that if you're still interested, we don't have the ability to add anything to our silent auction. That has been a huge success for people donating. So if you haven't checked that out, please, we can provide that link for you. It's on our homepage. But we have a live auction that's going to be going on throughout the course of the weekend. And then we'll be giving out some amazing, very, very niche level gifts at the gala itself. But if you're still interested and you're a local business or you hear this and you're outside the city of Annapolis, we still have time that if you are interested in donating for the 50-year event, then please get a hold of me personally. But if not, and you would love to just partner and continue moving forward with us as the years progress, then we still invite you to contact us and make sure that you understand what we're looking for. And it's really just the level of support from all alumni and all businesses and all people that know that the little stuff that they can do to add to us makes us stronger together.

How To Donate Follow And Join

SPEAKER_00 29:24

And great, uh Adrian, so well put. And while this weekend is what we're highlighting, and there is still opportunity to register, you go to sign upnow.events forward slash USNA women. You can register and join the conference, the gala, see what the agenda is. We have plans that are ongoing and will continue post-April for recognition, and we're calling it a remote celebration. So for those groups out there, we have two individuals within our volunteer group of women that are working for USNA women are planning remote celebrations post-the-April event for those that didn't uh get an opportunity to come join us in person. And there's communicating things around on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook. We have a listserv, and uh we have a comms leader in Christy Bickle, who is doing individual class spotlights, and those are all archived and available. Come look at us on myUsna.com, USA Women for a full schedule. Um great partnership, as I said again with the Alumni Association and their platform for us to keep the schedule of events current, our sponsor information current, the panel speakers, their IOs, and then these spotlights are just amazing. We started with the most recent classes and we'll conclude at the end of the year with the earlier classes, celebrating the 80, a class of 80 at I Day in the summer.

Final Thanks And How To Connect

SPEAKER_02 31:35

There's been so much great discussion. You know, again, I just I'm so grateful to have Marie and Adrian on this conversation. But as we wrap up here, you know, we move it a little bit and give them the opportunity in the floor to share any last thoughts, words of wisdom, conversation pieces, kind of any saved rounds, any last things. So take a listen.

SPEAKER_01 31:56

Sure. I would love to just quickly say one, a sincere thank you to you, Grant. If it's not folks like you putting us out there and kind of uplifting us to be able to share our story, it's not possible. We have an amazing, amazing bunch of people coming back. Uh, I would be again remiss if I didn't say we have two O6ers on the panels. Very, very proud of that. We are one of the only aught six classes. Well, we are the one of the only aughts, the aught six class to be, as Marie said, the donors for the class liaisons. So shout out to my class liaison. That doesn't mean there's not still time for classes to come forward, but to, you know, we really, really, really need support in various ways. It's not just a monetary donation, it is the opportunity to sign up for USNA women. It is an opportunity to follow us, to understand what we're doing, where we're going, what we want to achieve. We have a ton of, you know, amazing people part of this team, but without additional assistance, we're not going to ever get to the where we want to eventually be. We have a very unique strategic vision of one of the last things is, you know, I'm the class of 2006 president. It has been an honor to serve in that capacity. I love going back to the different events. One of the council of class presidents I was just at, my link in the chain is the class of 56. And as you know, there was no women during 1956 and before that when they graduated. But I looked at my counterpart and Jim said to me, you know, without a hesitation, I will support you. I have had all girls and I have all grandchildren that are girls. And so I cannot wait to support you. I cannot wait to see what this event looks like, and I cannot wait to see what continues on. He understands the importance of being a supportive male and having young girls looking up to this and seeing that there is an opportunity and there is a chance that they can go to one of the academies. Hopefully, their best decision would be the Naval Academy, as we all know. But yeah, obviously. But I just think that like that that resonated with me and was so important that he said that as a 56th grad. And I hope that that kind of leaves a lasting impression for people that without that kind of support, we would never have gotten to the point we're at now. And I hope we blow 30% out of the water in the next couple of years. And just thank you for your time, Grant. I can't wait to see you on the panel. I can't wait to see everybody that signs up and is in town. If you can't make the conference, just come from the gala. If you can't come for the gala gala, then come for the conference. But we hope to see you and uh thank you again so much for the time. And I will let the taskmaster, amazing leader that is doing this 50-year event have the final words.

SPEAKER_00 34:35

My final words are gratitude and thanks, Grant. And I think Adrian summed it up beautifully. We're grateful for the opportunity to reach your audience. Um Academy Insiders has an incredible purpose, focus, and making great impact. And for you to be joining us along with your beautiful spouse for the April event is is is heartwarming. So we look forward to others considering and the all the information you need to know, check us out and love to have an opportunity to be in front of your listening fan base.

SPEAKER_02 35:09

And that wraps it up for us. I hope you enjoyed this conversation. If you want to learn more about the USNA Women's SIG or the event, again, the celebration of 50 years of women at the Naval Academy, we are gonna put links. Again, if you're listening to the podcast right now, you'll be able to find it in the show notes of your favorite podcast platform where you're listening, or if you're watching this on YouTube, it'll just be in the description of the video. So make sure to go check it out if you want to support. Again, tons of opportunities to support this specific event or attend the event, or you can quite literally just make donations to support the USNA Women's Special Interest Group and their initiatives that they have to support the Naval Academy and the women of the Naval Academy. So I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed getting an opportunity to have conversations with them. If you are going to be in Annapolis that weekend, please reach out to me. I would love to meet you and get an opportunity to say hello. So, anyway, thank y'all. I hope you enjoyed the episode. As always, reach out with questions. Otherwise, have a great rest of your day. Go Navy, be army. Thank you so much for listening to this episode of the Academy Insider Podcast. I really hope you liked it, enjoyed it, and learned something during this time. If you did, please feel free to like and subscribe or leave a comment about the episode. We really appreciate to hear your feedback about everything and continue to make Academy Insider an amazing service that guides, serves, and supports midshipmen, future midshipmen, and their families. Thank you.