Photo Credit: Twitter of DJT
Something…
I did something earlier this past year that started out so innocuously.
I received an invite on LinkedIn; there would be a social mixer for the Naval Postgraduate School Alumni Association here in Hawaii, at a restaurant overlooking historic Pearl Harbor. As a 2003 graduate of the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, how could I resist? My wife and I joined the festivities, and we listened intently as the representatives from the Naval Postgraduate School Alumni Association discussed future plans and asked other alumni if we would like to be a part of the planned growth of the Association. Part of the plans included an exciting new digital periodical titled “Faces of NPS.” “Faces” would reflect the various initiatives of current students, alumni, and all of the terrific things that we had done, were doing, or were planning to do. So, needless to say, I was rather excited when, several months later, the inaugural edition of “Faces of NPS” popped into my email inbox early Saturday morning on May 23rd, just as the COVID pandemic was grabbing the lion’s share of media attention. Upon reading through the inaugural edition of “Faces of NPS” (Faces of NPS, Volume 1), I was immediately struck by the complete lack of diversity in the e-newsletter that purported to focus “on the people of the Naval Postgraduate School.” Not one single person highlighted in the e-newsletter “that focuses on the people of the Naval Postgraduate School” was a minority. No minority students… …no minority staff members… ...and no minority alumni were presented. Now, to many people, this would likely be an oversight. But for me, it was a formidable slight to which there could be no excuse. Accordingly, I promptly responded with an email later that same Saturday afternoon on which I received the email (sent at 2:38 Hawaiian Standard Time on May 23rd). You can read the complete contents of my email HERE, but the specific concerns I shared included the following statement: “Inasmuch as our great Navy has made tremendous strides, advances, and improvements in facilitating (allowing) members of the minority communities to more fully participate in virtually every field available to our military and civilian population, I am somewhat dismayed that the inaugural edition of “Faces of NPS” reflects poorly on those significant headways. If “Faces of NPS” seeks to be a premier **and** inclusive periodical that represents the alumni/alumnae of the Naval Postgraduate School, please make a more concerted effort to include minority personnel as "Faces of NPS" highlights the past, present, and ongoing efforts of its students, faculty and staff. As you are hopefully aware, minorities have been historically disenfranchised and marginalized, despite investing significant, if not all, portions of their careers and lives to the United States Navy and, by extension, the United States of America. And, as I have posited elsewhere, our Navy - your Navy - continues to lose incredibly talented leaders, primarily because those same talented leaders do not fit the mean, median, mode, or, most importantly, the mold.” I closed the email letter with a very specific statement and accompanying request. Specifically: “In reality, if we are not doing something very specific to mitigate, undermine, confront, and overwhelm the formal, informal, and very well-known systems that perpetuate yesterday’s policies into tomorrow, we are, ourselves, mere facilitators of the same. Please do better. Please do something very specific to mitigate, undermine, confront, and overwhelm the formal, informal, and very well-known systems that perpetuate yesterday’s policies into tomorrow.” Unsurprisingly, by Thursday of the following week, I had not received a response to my email. Accordingly, I followed up with another email, directly to the President of the Naval Postgraduate School Alumni Association. (If desired, read a copy of the email HERE.) Here is a screenshot of the website of the Naval Postgraduate School Alumni Association Advisory Council, followed by their self-described mission. It's an interesting mix of "diverse" members, right? 
Please note the “diverse” members.
I specifically mention the word “diverse” primarily because, as you can see, despite having an all-white cast of characters, the NPS Alumni Association Advisory Council of the NPS Alumni Association had the sheer unmitigated gall to state this on their website:
“… the Advisory Council is composed of accomplished experts who will offer innovative strategies and DIVERSE perspectives to our Board of Trustees.” In my mind, for an alumni association with an (all-white) Board of Trustees and an (all-white) Advisory Council that represents thousands of minority students of a federally funded institution of higher learning, the wording reflected in the aforementioned paragraph is wholly unacceptable, by ANY standard. Unfortunately, the offenses did not stop there. On Friday, May 29th, when I finally received a formal response to my initial email, the President of the NPS Alumni Association said… “The issue you speak to is important and as an organization we want to keep it front of mind in all we do. With regard to the make-up of our Trustees and Advisory Council, the leaders of each have TALKED with me about identifying candidates that are more representative of the U.S. and the military and we have taken that step in updating our prospect list for each.” Please note the highlighted word in the above paragraph: TALKED. Wow! Back when I served in the World’s Greatest Navy, we did not speak highly of people who TALKED about doing things… especially when it took honor, courage, and true commitment to get the job done. Accordingly, I responded with a more urgent appeal. I asked for deliverables. Specifically,
After all, how could an all-white panel provide DIVERSE perspectives? (And don’t get it twisted: we ALL know that the word “diverse” is a loaded word, with strong implications.)
To provide maximum flexibility for the meeting, I made myself available for the subsequent 60 days, and offered to fly to Monterey from Hawaii for the meeting.
One would think this record of events would surely start leaning toward a progressively better status. Unfortunately, the offenses did not stop there. Accordingly, I restated the verbiage of my previous email. Expressly: Please tell me, specifically, what the Naval Postgraduate School is doing to mitigate, undermine, confront, and overwhelm the formal, informal, and very well-known systems that perpetuate yesterday’s non-inclusive (if not racist) policies into tomorrow. Clearly, aligning itself with an alumni association that unabashedly maintains a board of advisors and trustees that are almost exclusively white speaks volumes about the school’s concern for diversity (or lack thereof). I ask you, “From where are the DIVERSE perspectives coming?” Again, I sincerely appreciate your communicated stance on this matter. As an alumnus of NPS, I am committed to obtaining a better understanding of how the two institutions are connected, and what we, as a community, are doing to improve what appears to be abysmal efforts at ensuring minority representation at the alumni association. I also added this interesting historical twist: “I implore you to take this matter more seriously. To be sure, in the intervening days since my first email to your organization (on Saturday, May 23rd), our nation and the world are grappling with – and responding to - the most recent public lynching of a Black man here in the United States of America. Also… Given the recent events regarding retired Captain Scott Bethmann, his position as a trustee with the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association, and his egregious comments regarding people of color this past weekend, I am seeking an expeditious response from you, and the NPS (and the advisory council and the trustees, if necessary).” For you see, my dear friends and associates, a few days after my initial email to the Naval Postgraduate School Alumni Association, George Floyd was killed by a police officer in broad daylight while being filmed by several law-abiding citizens. And, despite what many people might think, these things are related: an all-white Board of Trustees and an all-white Advisory Council at the Alumni Association of YOUR taxpayer-funded Naval Postgraduate School… and the killing of (yet another) Black man on the streets of YOUR nation. In case you missed it, during the timeframe of the aforementioned emails, retired U.S. Navy Captain Scott Bethmann garnered his 15 minutes of infamy by livestreaming racist remarks on Facebook. He and his wife reportedly used the n-word, and said several racially disparaging remarks while (apparently) unknowingly broadcasting the remarks on Facebook. Interestingly enough, retired Captain Bethmann wasn’t just “any ol’ retired captain”; on the day he made those remarks, he was serving as the Treasurer of the Jacksonville Chapter of the Naval Academy Alumni Association and the National Trustee. Unfortunately, the offenses did not stop there. In a much more formal response to my initial inquiry regarding the lack of minority representation on the Advisory Council and Board of Trustees (on June 10th, 2020), the President and CEO of the Naval Postgraduate School Foundation wrote… “We will explore additional ways to reach underrepresented youth, through STEM events and high school and college internships, and look for new opportunities to assist military organizations, like the National Naval Officers Association.” Take a look at the picture below and understand this supremely important point: This is NOT about “underrepresented youth, through STEM events and high school and college internships.”
Photo Credit: Twitter of DJT
This is about RETENTION… of people of color… at the higher levels of civilian and uniformed military organizations.
To be perfectly candid, any attempt to shift the narrative from RETENTION to RECRUITMENT underscores exactly HOW systemic racism continues to reinforce itself as and among the status quo in our nation. For you see, if people of color don’t make it to and through the HIGHER levels of civilian and uniformed military organizations, they will never make it to the HIGHEST levels of civilian and uniformed military organizations. To be clear: I am a “Life Member” of the National Naval Officers Association (NNOA). Conveniently, during this timeframe, the President of the Naval Postgraduate School, a retired three-star admiral from deep in the heart of good ol’ Texas, joined NNOA as a “Life Member.” Interestingly enough, in the retired admiral's post regarding George Floyd, the phrase "death of George Floyd" is used. It wasn't merely a "death"; it was a killing... a murder. Ah, but we must avoid potential pejoratives; we must be more circumspect. We must use euphemisms. Must we? Also, in full disclosure, throughout these developments, I was in consultation with senior members of the NNOA Executive Team. And, again, to be perfectly candid, they were of no help. In fact, considering the fact that one of the executive members is a retired member of the Navy’s admiralty, one could say that one person in particular, being a person of color, was exhibiting some rather obstructionist behavior. But, alas, that, too, is not surprising. For you see, once certain members of the military reach a certain rank, things begin to change. “What things?” you might ask. Well, for starters, Navy admirals (and military flag officers, in general) have a substantial staff of civilian and uniformed servicemembers who serve a number of purposes, one of which is to protect that admiral or general. After a while, the admirals and generals hear less and less of the (capital-T) Truth… and more and more of what their staff think they, the admirals and generals, WANT TO hear. Accordingly, plausible deniability becomes a way of life for admirals and generals. Ultimately, their true character begins to shine... or otherwise wear thin to reflect their true character. If they are genuinely great leaders (and many of them are great leaders) they will shine so brightly that their brilliance will unabashedly influence and imbue others with a strong sense of mission, honor, courage, and commitment. If, on the other hand, they are shady, everyone knows it, but we must avoid potential pejoratives; we must be more circumspect. We must use euphemisms. Must we? Perhaps they won’t get as bad as Rear Adm. Robert Gilbeau or Rear Admiral David Baucom, but please believe me when I say that I have first-hand knowledge of some rather corrupt navy flag officers. The media regularly reports on some of the lesser-known deeds, like what Rear Admiral Heinrich and others did, but the public rarely pays any real attention to these matters. Most people don’t understand the fact that, by the time something like this rises to the level of media attention, much more nefarious things have transpired at some point or another. But I digress… Ultimately, the Naval Postgraduate School Alumni Association did the right things:
In retrospect, though you, the reader, are just now learning about this act of kindness on my part, I am glad to have performed a service. In today’s terms, I am not so sure about publicly sharing what transpired over this past summer. But, alas, it is 100% true. And yet, for some readers, the aforementioned words, pictures, and progress will all seem like much ado about nothing. As I posited in a previous post… “Earlier this past week, you probably saw the same thing I saw. However, we likely feel differently about it. Yep... despite the fact that we saw the exact same thing... ...it all depends on how you see it. Literally everything we do is affected by how we decide to prioritize our day, our week, and our life. Likewise, our propensities (our habits) help to ensure today is quite a bit like yesterday.” And inasmuch as you and I live in the same country, one nation, under God... as a nation, we are more divisible by race than by any other subjectively objective standard. It’s actually in our nation’s DNA... Article one, section two of the Constitution of the United States declared that any person who was not free would be counted as three-fifths of a free individual for the purposes of determining congressional representation. The "Three-Fifths Clause" thus increased the political power of slaveholding states. (thirteen.org) But here’s the thing… as I posited in the previously referenced post… “Whose reality is more correct? After all, when discussing reality with family and friends, there are at least three ways to view life:
Regardless what ANY of us in the U.S. say, take a look at the following picture.
This is the way things really ARE...
Photo Credit: Twitter of DJT
Of course, there are many, many more details to this storied evolution of the Alumni Association at YOUR Naval Postgraduate School (you pay for the school through YOUR tax dollars).
For context and clarity, I have condensed and edited several emails and communications. To be candid, I was less-than-pleased with the unsupportive response from the President of the Naval Postgraduate School and the underwhelming support of senior “leadership” at the National Naval Officers Association. But, hey, at least we now have an integrated Advisory Council at the NPS Alumni Association. But again, let's not get history or present-day progress twisted. It is what it is. Here is a screenshot of the NPS Alumni website I grabbed just before publishing this blog post... ...either you love diversity... or you don't. 
Photo credit: Naval Postgraduate School website, Thursday, December 3, 2020
It was an interesting summer, to be sure.
But here's a question - Please tell me:
What are YOU doing to mitigate, undermine, confront, and overwhelm the formal, informal, and very well-known systems that perpetuate yesterday’s non-inclusive, if not racist, policies into tomorrow?
If you’re not actively part of the solution, please consider looking in the mirror.
You might be part of the problem. And here is one such example of what I just stated: After all of the email exchanges and numerous Zoom meetings we enjoyed, the President of the Alumni Association had this to say about HOW the all-white Board of Trustees and Advisory Council came to be…
“We didn’t mean for it to happen that way.
It just did.”
If you believe that, then a great number of people have all wasted our time this past summer.
Nothing like this happens “by accident.” ~ Nothing ~ 
Principal consultant at The PIE Group, and Executive Director of TeenBuilding USA, [a non-profit 501c(3)], John H. Clark III believes better development of leaders is what we (all) need. And to be better organizations, we need more good leaders, not followers. To build better leaders, we must start with the individual (you, she, he, and me).
Described as “an innovative leader,” John teaches leaders, organizations, and individuals how to inspire each other. With a bold goal to inspire a worldwide community of optimistic realists who continuously accept, adapt to, and achieve the bold and beautiful concept of The Ideal Life, John is leading a movement to inspire people to apply his trademarked mantra {Accept. Adapt. Achieve! ®}. An innovative business manager and retired naval officer, John is fascinated by leaders and organizations that make the greatest impact within their organizational culture and within the “real” world — people who “get it.” Over the course of his life as a military leader, corporate mentor, and innovative content creator, John has discovered a wealth of insight about how we think, act and communicate within our respective work/life environments. As a career naval officer, mentor, educator, and optimistic realist, he has devoted his life to sharing insights to assist in our quests to become better at what we all do – live @ work! An optimist with a penchant for writing about realistic solutions to the challenges of everyday life, John is the author of 3 books: a leadership-development insider, The Ideal: Your guide to An Ideal Life, a teen-focused guide, Getting Out: Expert Advice for Today’s Teens, and the Christian-based book, God’s Heartbeat: A Powerful Premise for Leading a Christian Life. He delivers a unique and refreshing point of view to life's seemingly overwhelming situations. Through books, blogs, and everyday conversation, John's message resonates with an empowering blend of ideals that enrich, uplift, and authorize people to set and achieve goals far beyond current mindsets. An engaged community advocate and authentic leader, his trademarked phrase is a winner: 
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