WOMEN AT WEST POINT
1836 The Warner Sisters come to Constitution Island. For half a century, Susan and Anna Warner wrote popular novels and taught Sunday School to West Point cadets. Susan wrote “A Wide World,” one of the nation’s best sellers, in the 1850s. Anna wrote the words to the children’s verse “Jesus Loves Me.” In 1908 they donated the island to the Military Academy. 1957 Maj. Emma Baird becomes the Assistant Chief of the Personnel Branch and is reputed to be the first woman staff officer at West Point. 1968 Dr. Betsy Lewis, the Academy’s fine arts librarian, teaches art classes in the English Department to First Class Cadets as the first female faculty member. 1973 1st Lt. Virginia Fry is the first full-time female faculty member, serving as a geography instructor in the Department of Earth, Space and Graphic Sciences. 1975 President Gerald Ford signs legislation that forever changes the face of America’s service academies when he declares that women would be permitted to seek nomination and attend a military institution. 1976 Army welcomes its first co-ed class in July of 1976 with the admission of 119 women with the Class of 1980; Mrs. Sue Peterson joins the Department of Physical Education as its first female instructor. 1978 “Women at West Point” television movie airs on CBS; Maj. Nancy Freebairm is the first female tactical officer; basketball is the first women’s sport to gain varsity status. 1979 Cadet Kathy Gerard is the first female Brigade Executive Officer, and Col. Mildred Hedberg is the Chief of Staff for the United States Corps of Cadets. 1980 The first women’s class graduates from West Point; Andrea Hollen, the Academy’s 58th Rhodes Scholar, is the first of 62 women to receive her diploma; Terry Tepper is awarded the Army Athletic Association (AAA) Trophy for “most valuable service to women’s athletics.” Maj. Cathy Kelley is the Academy’s first woman named a permanent associate professor. 1981 Dena Caradimitropoulo, who starred in basketball, is the first woman and only the sixth cadet to win the
AAA Special Award for “outstanding achievements and exemplary leadership in athletic competition.” 1984 Karen Short, a member of the women’s basketball team, is the first female to command Cadet Basic Training and be a Regimental Commander. Tracy Hanlon, a star in both basketball and track, is the first female to qualify for the Olympic trials (heptathlon). 1985 Lissa Young is the first female Deputy Brigade Commander and the first to be in charge of Cadet Field Training.
2000 The U.S. Military Academy celebrates the 20th anniversary of the first women’s class to graduate. 2001 The 25th year of females at the U.S. Military Academy is observed while the Academy celebrates its bicentennial. 2003 Rebecca Halstead (USMA ‘81), former women’s basketball manager, becomes the first female West Point graduate to achieve rank of general in the U.S. Army.
1986 Pam Pearson earns All-America honors in track and is the only woman at West Point selected for AllAmerica honors in two sports, having been chosen twice in basketball.
2005 Col. Cindy (Glazier) Jebb (USMA ’82), a former volleyball captain, becomes the first female graduate to be named Professor, USMA, when she becomes Deputy Head of the Department of Social Sciences.
1987 Capt. Kathy Gerard-Snook and Bobbi FiedlerPrinslow (USMA ‘80) are the first women graduates to serve on the USMA faculty.
2006 Army becomes the first service academy to earn a bid to the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball Tournament.
1988 Ann Marie Wycoff, named the “Outstanding Female Swimmer” at the NCAA Division II Champions, is the first athlete to capture four national titles in a single championship event.
Col. Maritza Ryan (USMA ’82) becomes the first female graduate to be the Head of an Academic Department when she becomes the Professor of Law.
1989 Kristen Baker is the first woman to command the Corps of Cadets with her selection as First Captain; Capt. Heidi Brown (USMA ‘81) and Mary Finch (USMA ‘83) are the first women graduates to serve as tactical officers. 1990 Carol Barkalow (USMA ‘80), who starred in basketball, writes a book (“In the Men’s House”) about her West Point experience as a member of the first female class. 1993 Capt. Margaret Belknap (USMA ‘81), a member of the Systems Engineering Department, is the first woman to serve as a White House Fellow.
Army softball standout Colleen McCabe (USMA ’91) is inducted into the Army Sports Hall of Fame. Still lauded as one of the program’s top throwers, McCabe was the first softball player to garner the Hall of Fame citation. 2007 Col. Deborah McDonald (USMA ’85) is the first woman to serve as a Major Activity Director at West Point with her selection as the Director of Admissions. 2009 Army softball player Nicki Robbins (USMA ‘02) is inducted into the Army Sports Hall of Fame. Army’s finest offensive performer, Robbins becomes the second Black Knight in four years to garner the Hall of Fame citation.
1995 Rebecca Marier, a tennis star, is the first female cadet to graduate No. 1 in her class. 1997 Col. Maureen LeBoeuf is the first female to head an academic department with her appointment as Professor and Head of the Department of Physical Education. Barbara Treharne (USMA ‘80) and Heidi Brown (USMA ‘81) are two of four females to command air defense artillery Patriot battalions. 1999 Alison Jones is the first female and second cadet in a decade to receive the Soldiers Medal for heroism in the terrorist bombing of the American Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya. Women’s tennis becomes the first female team to earn a Division I NCAA tournament berth.
Hall of Fame softball player Nicki Robbins
www.goARMYsports.com
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2012 ARMY SOFTBALL GUIDE
1779 Margaret (Molly) Corbin is the first woman to receive a military pension in the United States for her heroism and service to the country during the Revolutionary War. She is buried in the West Point cemetery.