West Point rejects Cadet who resigned under DADT

Luigi59

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West Point rejects Cadet who resigned under DADT

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — A lesbian cadet who resigned from West Point last year has been rejected for readmission to the academy even as the military moves toward repealing its "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

Officials at the U.S. Military Academy said they had no choice but to reject Katherine Miller's application, because the repeal of the policy barring gays from serving openly in the military is not in effect yet. The policy's repeal did not occur immediately after President Barack Obama signed the legislation in December as training and certification are required before the ban is lifted.

Miller left West Point in August, halfway through her stint at the academy, saying she couldn't lie about her sexuality anymore.

"While the don't ask, don't tell policy was recently changed and will be repealed, the effective date has not yet been determined," said Lt. Col. Sherri Reed, the academy's director of public affairs, in a statement. "Due to this situation, West Point is unable to offer her readmission at this time."

Miller enjoyed attending the historic academy looming over the Hudson River and she thrived there, ranking ninth in her class when she left. But she said keeping her sexuality a secret violated the academy's honor code and nagged at her conscience. It was hard for her to remain silent when her fellow cadets made derogatory comments about gays.

She filed her resignation just as she was to begin her junior year. The 21-year-old from Findlay, Ohio, instantly became a prominent face in the debate over gays serving openly. Miller was accepted to Yale University, but she missed the camaraderie at West Point and re-applied late last year.

There was no immediate comment from Miller on the academy's rejection.

The repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" is to go into effect 60 days after the president and senior defense advisers certify that it won't hurt troops' ability to fight. Training for service members began around March 1 and could be finished by summer's end.

"While at the academy Ms. Miller remained in good standing and had done exceptionally well academically, militarily and physically," Reed said. "The choice to seek re-admission is available to her once the repeal process is completed."

Under President Bill Clinton, the military in 1993 adopted it's "don't ask, don't tell" policy as a compromise that let gay men and women serve so long as they stayed silent about their sexuality. Clinton had wanted to repeal the ban entirely, but the military and many in Congress argued that doing so would disrupt order.

As predicted by a few people here, she reapplied to USMA after the repeal of DADT.

Kind of disproves the theory that she resigned and enrolled at Yale for publicity purposes.
 
As predicted by a few people here, she reapplied to USMA after the repeal of DADT.

Kind of disproves the theory that she resigned and enrolled at Yale for publicity purposes.

Well, assuming she remains qualified, hopefully she will be readmitted next year.
 
Kind of disproves the theory that she resigned and enrolled at Yale for publicity purposes.
Not necessarily. She could still be miking this for publicity and to hold the USMA's feet to the fire on how well they implement the new policy. I don't think the USMA has any obligation to re-admit a cadet that voluntarily resigned or to even give a reason why they don't.
 
Not necessarily. She could still be milking this for publicity and to hold the USMA's feet to the fire on how well they implement the new policy. I don't think the USMA has any obligation to re-admit a cadet that voluntarily resigned or to even give a reason why they don't.

I would agree it could be for publicity as well. At the same time, if she was admitted and declined, THAT would speak volumes. I'd say, if there was no plan to re-enroll, that 7 more years (minimum) as a member of the Army is a steep price if the goal is only publicity. The moment she were to walk into her first class back at USMA, she would be obligated for 7 more years.

So, I will be watching her next year. If she re-applies again, I would trust her sincerity. If not, I would really be going "hum......"
 
I have to agree with Agagles and Hornet because everybody in the know, knows that the repeal is not official yet. If I recall correctly, the news releases even stated that as a fact.

I would highly doubt she will apply again because it would be a back track academically, and IMPO she would want to move forward. At the earliest chance she would be repeating 3 yrs of college.

Now, that leaves 2 options.

1. If the repeal is done by the end of this fiscal yr., because ROTC exists, she can still try to go that route.

2. OCS.

If she graduates from Yale and does not opt for any of these options, at that point it tells me it was a publicity stunt. Until that time I will give her the benefit of the doubt.
 
Officials at the U.S. Military Academy said they had no choice but to reject Katherine Miller's application, because the repeal of the policy barring gays from serving openly in the military is not in effect yet.
There are any number of articles about how she wanted to publicize her departure. I think that is pretty much a given.

I'm trying to understand who is attempting to publicize the rejection of her re-admittance application. Is it possible/probable that the USMA proactively contacted the news media to make them aware they had rejected an applicant? Or is it more likely they were responding to an inquiry?
 
It could be both.

They may have been contacted by the media and decided to release it officially to beat them to the punch.

I think right now with our economy, this is really going to be a non-story. People care more about gas prices and rising interest rates. That is how the 24 hr news cycle works.

Trump and Obama made headlines today. The Royal wedding will tomorrow. This will never become a real issue like it did when she showed up with Lady Gaga. It might be lucky to make Drudge, otherwise it will make page 15 bottom corner of the WaPO or NYT.
 
The missing information I would like to know is if she had a nomination when she reapplied. Former cadets still need nominations when they reapply.

Since the legislation to repeal DADT was signed on Dec 2010, not likely she would have applied for nominations in the fall (when she resigned). The only exception will be if she qualified for Presidential Nomination. Most Congressional nomiation processes are completed by early December, so I highly doubt her Senator/Congressman would have given her a nomination. The exception will be Senator/Congressman wanted to make a statement. Again, not likely as there is no politicians making statements.

If my assumption on her not having a nomination is correct, why did West Point say the application was rejected based on DADT still in effect. My guess is it sounds better than she doesn't have a nomination. Usually with media, if you have to start explaining, you lost.
 
The missing information I would like to know is if she had a nomination when she reapplied. Former cadets still need nominations when they reapply.

Since the legislation to repeal DADT was signed on Dec 2010, not likely she would have applied for nominations in the fall (when she resigned). The only exception will be if she qualified for Presidential Nomination. Most Congressional nomiation processes are completed by early December, so I highly doubt her Senator/Congressman would have given her a nomination. The exception will be Senator/Congressman wanted to make a statement. Again, not likely as there is no politicians making statements.

If my assumption on her not having a nomination is correct, why did West Point say the application was rejected based on DADT still in effect. My guess is it sounds better than she doesn't have a nomination. Usually with media, if you have to start explaining, you lost.

Because USMA is not obligated to allow your application to continue until you finish your file. Just as they can deem you academically deficient before nomination interviews, they can reject you based on DADT. Why would they have allowed her to go through the whole proccess if they already knew she would not be admitted?

I am curious as to how this got out though since I am pretty sure admissions can't release this sort of information...
 
Lt. Col. Sherri Reed, the academy's director of public affairs, in a statement.
Lt. Col. Sherri Reed called the news media and said "I know that the USMA doesn't usually release details of why we refuse admission to some candidates, or for that matter the names of those that apply, but in this particular case I thought I'd provide the following information before you asked me about Katherine Miller's application"?
 
Well, assuming she remains qualified, hopefully she will be readmitted next year.

I really hope they don't readmit her. She knew going in what the policy was, and she chose to apply, attend, and then resign, just for the publicity. People like her have no place in the Army.
 
I really hope they don't readmit her. She knew going in what the policy was, and she chose to apply, attend, and then resign, just for the publicity. People like her have no place in the Army.

We don't know that. She knew the policy but 18-20 year olds can go through a lot of maturing and soul seeking. This is especially true at an Academy where people have to grow up quickly and adapt to a very different environment than where they were reared. She found that after two years she could not "be all she could be" with the Army under that policy and left. Is she so worse from the hundreds of cadets who have chosen to leave after two years because they found it wasn't for them? We don't demonize them, so don't demonize her. She did what she believed was right and advocated after what she felt was right. I won't ostracize her for standing up for what she believed in. That took courage to admit. Some people could actually learn from it.

I keep my previous statement. I hope, that if qualified, she is able to return if that is her wish.
 
Seems like a publicity stunt to me. DADT isn't technically over yet. She knows this, probably better than anyone. If she had any intention of coming back she would have reapplied after the repeal came into effect.
 
So you're telling me that before you attended the USAFA, you didn't know that you could be kicked out for violating DADT? I know when people enlist in the Army, they are counseled on the provisions of DADT and the consequences of violating it. I would think that all services have a similar counseling type thing, but maybe I'm wrong.

Either way, she knew what the deal was before she was admitted. If she wanted to serve her country, she knew she had to keep her sexual orientation to herself. If she resigned quietly because she honestly wanted to stand on her principles, then I would have no problem with that. She didn't, and made a huge media circus out of it.

If you want to serve, you don't do it on your terms. It's not about you. That's why it's called Selfless Service.
 
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"So you're telling me that before you attended the USAFA, you didn't know that you could be kicked out for violating DADT? I know when people enlist in the Army, they are counseled on the provisions of DADT and the consequences of violating it. I would think that all services have a similar counseling type thing, but maybe I'm wrong. "

I did not know about DADT when I entered nor was I counseled on it. The first DADT training I received was about 3 months ago.

Either way, she knew what the deal was before she was admitted. If she wanted to serve her country, she knew she had to keep her sexual orientation to herself. If she resigned quietly because she honestly wanted to stand on her principles, then I would have no problem with that. She didn't, and made a huge media circus out of it.

If you want to serve, you don't do it on your terms. It's not about you. That's why it's called Selfless Service.

She could have announced it and forced WP to kick her out. At least she did it of her own accord. After that, she is a civilian and can do what she wants. Which she did.
 
Lt. Col. Sherri Reed called the news media and said "I know that the USMA doesn't usually release details of why we refuse admission to some candidates, or for that matter the names of those that apply, but in this particular case I thought I'd provide the following information before you asked me about Katherine Miller's application"?

"In announcing Miller’s rejection, West Point issued a statement explaining that it could
not accept Miller because of the still-existing ban, but hinting that reentry would not be a problem
for her in the future."

"While at the academy Ms. Miller remained in good standing and had done exceptionally well academically, militarily and physically.”​

The bottom line - West Point loses an outstanding cadet, one who was excelling academically, militarily, and physically (ranked 9th in the class) due to a policy that has been (theoretically) eliminated but not yet implemented.

:cool:
 
The bottom line - West Point loses an outstanding cadet, one who was excelling academically, militarily, and physically (ranked 9th in the class) due to a policy that has been (theoretically) eliminated but not yet implemented.

:cool:

Her class rank shouldn't matter - #9 or #800, rules and policies apply equally.
 
It's a 5 sec. phone call "If I'm a lesbian, and I apply, will I be rejected because of my sexuality?"

In 5 sec....... "Noooooooo....DADT is still being enforced".
 
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