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Class of 2014 most diverse in USNA history

Heads were shaved, copies of “Reef Points” issued and tears shed July 1 when the Naval Academy’s newest midshipmen reported to the Yard in the yearly ritual called Induction Day.

This year’s plebe class is the most diverse in Naval Academy history, officials said, the result of a dedicated strategy to recruit students from inner cities and parts of the country from which the school hasn’t traditionally drawn students.

But cities are only one of the targets. According to a June 28 presentation for the school’s Board of Visitors, the academy has seen its biggest increases in applications from Utah, Minnesota, Missouri, Indiana and South Carolina.

Here’s a profile of the Class of 2014 by the numbers, according to statistics from Naval Academy spokeswoman Deb Goode:

• The class has 1,247 people, including 984 men and 263 women; of those, 438 are classified as minorities.

• There are 34 prior enlisted plebes, including 27 sailors and seven Marines.

• About 31 percent of plebes come from college and postsecondary programs, including 262 students from the Naval Academy Preparatory School in Newport, R.I.; 59 from the Naval Academy Foundation Program; 30 from prep schools and 29 from other colleges. And 62 students have done at least six months’ study at another college.