The white hats of the graduating class of the U.S. Naval Academy sailed high in the clear skies above Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis in May of 1994, after President Bill Clinton gave the commencement address and the Navy’s Blue Angels roared overhead.
Mikie Sherrill, now a New Jersey Democratic congresswoman running for governor, saw none of it.
She was caught up in a months-long investigation of the worst cheating scandal in the academy’s history, leading to the expulsion of 24 midshipmen. Sherrill says she did not cheat but was penalized because she would not turn in her classmates involved in the infamous scandal.
While allowed to graduate, Sherrill was not permitted to walk in the procession with the rest of her classmates in that joyous ceremony. She was among 64 who received lesser punishment.
While she went on to an honorable military career as a decorated Navy helicopter pilot for nearly 10 years before entering politics, Sherrill now faces sharp questions more than 30 years later about exactly what she might have done in the wake of one of the darkest days at Annapolis.
It has suddenly become a lightning-rod issue in the razor-close New Jersey governor’s race between Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli.
Sherrill has declined to release her disciplinary records and accuses President Donald Trump’s administration and the Ciattarelli campaign of working together to illegally distribute files from the National Archives to a Ciattarelli ally -- files that include almost completely un-redacted copies of her military records, including her Social Security number.
“This is a breathtaking, disturbing leak that must be thoroughly investigated. Once again, the Trump administration is targeting political opponents with an absolute disregard for the law, this time in concert with the Ciattarelli campaign,” the Sherrill campaign said in a statement.
Her opponent said the scandal at the naval academy in 1994 had been no secret. But why she was punished is not so clear.
“What specific honor concept violations was she punished for? How did Naval investigators determine her guilt?” Ciattarelli’s campaign asked in a statement. “The only way to determine any of these answers is through her authorizing full and immediate release of all academic, disciplinary, and investigatory records related to her time at the academy and the scandal itself.”
On Friday, it was also revealed that Sherrill’s husband, Jason Hedberg, had a role in the scandal while he was a student. Court records, first reported by the New York Post, disclosed that Hedberg was one of about four dozen midshipmen who sued in 1994 to stop the academy’s Honor Board from deciding whether the students should be expelled.
A judge rejected the case and it remains unclear why Hedberg, who graduated and participated in commencement, was among the students who filed the lawsuit. Sherrill’s campaign declined to comment Saturday.
Sherrill has made her military record as a Navy helicopter pilot a key part of her campaign messaging as the latest poll shows both candidates are tied. Many view the New Jersey governor’s race as an early indicator on public feelings about the Trump presidency just before the midterm congressional elections.
What happened at Annapolis so many years ago is no mystery.
Copies of the notoriously difficult final exam for Electrical Engineering 311 had somehow been obtained and passed around by some students two days before it was administered. It was never clear who was responsible and some students who were caught up in the investigation said they had thought they were studying from an old practice test – only to learn it was the actual exam when they sat down to take it.
Several hours later, a midshipman alerted a professor and other students also stepped forward to report what had happened. The Navy would later report that more than 130 midshipmen, all from a class scheduled to graduate in May 1994, may have had an advance look at the test.
At the center of it all is the academy’s “honor concept,” which holds that midshipmen “are persons of integrity.”
“They stand for that which is right,” it reads. “They tell the truth and ensure that the truth is known.” And in bold: “They do not lie.”
But unlike the honor code at West Point, there is no “non-toleration” clause holding students directly responsible if they tolerate others who cheat.
A former U.S. Naval Academy classmate of Sherrill’s, who asked not to be identified, said investigators and the Navy didn’t like midshipmen who wouldn’t “rat out” their classmates.
“We were taught to be loyal and stand up for our shipmates all day every day, and this scandal really pitted loyalty against [the] institution,” the former classmate said. “I respect Mikie for not turning people in.”
The individual recalled that the Navy “conducted a massive, drawn-out investigation, uncovering everything and everyone involved. A distinguished board then reviewed every detail for each person and assigned punishments as they saw fit, outside of normal procedures or precedent.”
The classmate said it wasn’t a legal or a Uniform Code of Military Justice issue: “It was a custom court that looked at each person individually ... The Navy completely mishandled the crisis and could have easily avoided it.”
Another former classmate who responded to questions about what happened said only that “I did not know Mikie well and during that incident we never talked about it.”
Sherrill, meanwhile, released a campaign ad on Saturday featuring a fellow former Navy veteran praising her service.
“I would know because I served alongside her,” Lt. Cmdr. Karsten says in the clip. “She was distinguished multiple times and was honorably discharged. Attacking her service record isn’t just wrong, it’s a blatant lie.”
Ultimately, 24 students were directly implicated and expelled from the academy as a result of the cheating scandal. None were identified. There were no public announcements about the others who were punished.
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