Effort led by San Francisco Annapolis graduate nixed in second consecutive year
In an official announcement that brings to mind the fiction writing of George Orwell, trustees of the Naval Academy Alumni Association (NAAA) have denied recognition to the proposed Castro Chapter, made up of 67 Annapolis graduates, many of them gay, lesbian, or transgendered, arguing that rejecting the chapter “reaffirms the Alumni Association’s commitment to diversity and inclusiveness.”
“The denial means that chapters will continue to be drawn from the membership-at-large, not from Alumni groupings determined by personal characteristics or particularized goals,” George P. Watt Jr., president and CEO of the alumni group, said in a written statement.
The trustees’ decision, adopted at NAAA’s annual meeting on December 2, represents the second year in a row in which gay alumni of the academy have been turned back in their efforts to organize a chapter within the national organization.
