Naval Academy Bans Hazing of Midshipwomen

Naval Academy officials Tuesday issued a general order intended to stop future incidents of hazing or harassment of female midshipmen.

Supt. Virgil Hill Jr. issued the four-part plan, saying he wants to reaffirm the rights of all midshipmen at the 145-year-old institution after charges of hazing raised by a female midshipman who quit.

The order states that any upper-class midshipman who violates rules governing physical contact with plebes can be thrown out of the academy.

The female midshipman who resigned this month, Gwen Marie Dreyer, 19, of Encinitas, Calif., said male classmates handcuffed her to a urinal and took photographs of her. Dreyer, however, was not a plebe--first-year midshipman. She said she was taunted for trying to bring charges and complained that the punishment for such conduct was inadequate.

“All I can say is anything they are trying is better than nothing--but I was not a plebe and I didn’t have any problems when I was a plebe,” Dreyer told The Times in a telephone interview from her mother’s Encinitas home.

Hill’s order prohibits “horseplay” between classmates if it involves a midshipman against his or her will. The academy also will institute a hot line, allowing students to report violations to leaders and remain anonymous.

Finally, the order moves to implement a program to educate midshipmen on the issue of sexual harassment and equal opportunity, beginning with midshipmen entering the academy July 3.

The order comes after Hill’s announcement that he would implement a command-managed equal opportunity program, instead of continuing the current board made up of students.

Dreyer’s resignation from the academy resulted in action from higher Navy officials as well. On May 23, Navy Secretary H. Lawrence Garrett III asked Rear Adm. Ming Change, the Navy’s inspector general, to review incidents at the academy and determine if corrective action was necessary. An investigation is continuing.

Dreyer said she intended to resign with little fanfare, but family members convinced her that she could help improve conditions for women at the academy.

“That’s the only reason I came out with it in the first place,” she said.