ANNAPOLIS, Md. — It’s one of the Naval Academy’s quirkiest traditions: Hundreds of shirtless plebes mark the end of their first year by swarming a grease-slicked, 21-foot-obelisk, climbing over one another in a race to the top.
Now, academy officials are asking: Is this safe?
This week, academy officials said they will assemble a student committee to study changes to the Herndon Monument Climb.
“Like many customs and traditions, they evolve, they change over time,” said Cmdr. Ed Austin, an academy spokesman. “We’re taking a look at this one and trying to make a decision on whether we make some adjustments to it.”
Officials said they know of no serious injuries incurred by midshipmen in recent years during the event. But the review comes at a time when the new superintendent, Vice Adm. Jeffrey Fowler, has been bringing broad changes to life on the Annapolis campus.
Under Fowler, the academy has reduced students’ leisure time, required three hours of study nightly, required attendance at 15 meals a week, and switched seniors’ uniforms from blue to khaki.
According to legend, the freshman to reach the top of the monument — and replace a waiting “Dixie cup” cap worn by freshmen with a midshipman’s hat — will be the first in the class to become an admiral, the Navy’s highest rank. But, at least according to academy records that date back to the 1950s, that has never happened.
Women first participated in the exercise in 1977, and more women have taken part in the climb as the academy’s female population has increased.
“It’s humanity climbing over humanity, over a marble obelisk that’s greased,” said Lawrence Heyworth, a 1970 graduate and an alumni spokesman. “I’m amazed that nobody has been injured in it.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
