AND
THE
IN SERVICE BEYOND
On the Fruit of Affirmative Action
CGA’s 19th black graduate reflects and reminisces on his Academy and CG experience and the importance of community. By CDR Timothy E. Tilghman, USCG (ret), ’75
The author seen here (second from the left) at the CGA Chapel with Elijah Flynn ’75 (far left), Patrick LeSesne ’75 (third from the left) and Earl Burns ’77 (far right) writes, “My class was the first in the history of the Academy to graduate every black cadet.”
I
was elated to read that Marcus Canady ’00 was selected for captain, and in my enthusiasm, I dialed his number to extend congratulations, forgetting that he commanded Air Station Houston and was in the midst of the response to two hurricanes that came into the Gulf of Mexico. So, I called Marcus’ father, Alan Canady. We reminisced about gatherings of black folk at cookouts in and around Yorktown. That’s where I remember encountering a toddler named “Canady” in the early 1980s. This is a continuation of that reminiscing and reflecting. In the 99th year of the US Coast Guard Academy, 1975, I became the 19th black graduate of what I believe to be the best of the five federal service academies. I was admitted to the Academy because of affirmative action, a fact of life that left an indelible imprint on me. In 1975, people at the Academy were constantly reminding me that I got to the Academy because of affirmative action. No one who reminded me bothered to check my record. Our Academy has a tradition of publishing a profile of the “typical
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Academy appointee.” As I recall from 1971, that typical freshman or Swab was in the top 10 percent of his high school graduating class, in the National Honor Society, recognized as a National Merit Scholar, averaged 1200 on the SATs with a math score 100 points higher than his verbal score, earned a letter in a varsity sport and was recognized for civic or community service. I graduated from Joel Elias Spingarn High School in Washington, DC in June 1971. I was #10 in a class of nearly 300, a member of the National Honor Society, received honorable mention as a National Merit Scholar and scored 1200 on my SAT (670 Math, 530 Verbal), earned two varsity football letters and the Civitan Honor Key for exceptional community service. No one asked about my record and no one checked my credentials. Everyone who said, “You are at the Academy because of affirmative action,” implied that it was my color, not my credentials that got me in. The implication was that I did not meet the standard for admission. It often appeared that those who were not
December 2020/January 2021
