The United States Naval Academy has commissioned thousands of its graduates
as Marines
since the school’s founding in 1845, but until now none have been selected to return to lead the school.
Lt. Gen. Michael J. Borgschulte
of the Marine Corps, a 1991 graduate of the academy, will relieve
Vice Adm. Yvette M. Davids
, the school’s first female superintendent, who has led the academy since January 2024.
The move
was reported earlier
by U.S. Naval Institute News.
A spokeswoman for the academy referred questions about the change to the Pentagon, and a government official who was not permitted to speak publicly about internal personnel decisions confirmed details of the leadership change on Thursday evening.
General Borgschulte currently serves as the assistant commandant of the Marine Corps for manpower and reserve affairs. He is a career aviator who has flown multiple types of aircraft and deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan.
During her brief tenure, Admiral Davids oversaw the death of academic freedom at the 180-year-old school on the banks of the Severn River in Annapolis, Md., which has produced some of the nation’s greatest naval heroes and scholars.
The admiral complied with
orders from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth
that resulted in the censorship of curricula,
a ban on certain books
on race and gender at the academy’s library and the cancellation of conferences and speakers
for fear of retribution from
President Trump or Mr. Hegseth. Since becoming defense secretary this year, Mr. Hegseth has carried out a campaign against certain topics the Trump administration considers “woke” — all of which directly led to multiple faculty members at the academy resigning in protest.
According
to federal law
, superintendents of the Naval Academy are to serve terms in office of no less than three years, and agree to retire at the completion of their tour. That requirement, however, can be waived, as it is expected to be in Admiral Davids’s case.
She will retain her rank as a vice admiral and head to the Pentagon to oversee the Navy’s operations, plans, strategy and warfighting development office.