Cheating scandal fallout: Mikie Sherrill blocked from Naval Academy ceremony

Mikie Sherrill, now a Democratic candidate for New Jersey governor, was barred from walking with her graduating class at the US Naval Academy in 1994 after being linked to a sweeping cheating scandal, according to records obtained by the New Jersey Globe. The outlet reported that Sherrill’s name did not appear in the commencement program during the May 25, 1994, ceremony. Sherrill confirmed that she was prohibited from walking at graduation but insisted it was because she refused to implicate classmates. “I didn’t turn in some of my classmates, so I didn’t walk, but graduated and was commissioned as an officer in the US Navy, serving for nearly ten years with the highest level of distinction and honor,” Sherrill told the New Jersey Globe.Sherrill declined to authorize the release of sealed disciplinary records that would provide full details of her case. She did appear in the Naval Academy’s 1994 yearbook, despite being excluded from the graduation ceremony.The cheating scandal, which erupted in 1992, involved 130 midshipmen accused of obtaining and sharing answers to an electrical engineering exam. More than two dozen were expelled, and the controversy led to a congressional inquiry and the resignation of Rear Adm. Thomas Lynch as superintendent.The resurfacing of Sherrill’s ties to the scandal comes at a sensitive political moment. A new Emerson College Polling/PIX11/The Hill survey released this week showed Sherrill tied at 43% with Republican opponent Jack Ciattarelli, after earlier polls consistently showed her leading by a wide margin.Adding to the controversy, the National Archives and Records Administration recently admitted to improperly releasing Sherrill’s unredacted military records to Ciattarelli ally Nicholas De Gregorio. Those records, which contained her Social Security number and other personal details, were first reported by CBS News.“The Trump administration blatantly violated federal law by releasing Mikie Sherrill’s unredacted personal military records to an agent of the Ciattarelli campaign — which were then distributed and weaponized by Jack Ciattarelli,” Sherrill’s campaign communications director Sean Higgins said in a statement.House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries condemned the leak, telling reporters, “I support a criminal investigation into the unauthorized and illegal release of Mikie Sherrill’s record. Mikie Sherrill is a patriot and a hero who has served this country. It’s outrageous that Donald Trump and his administration and political hacks connected to them continue to violate the law, and they will be held accountable.”Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin also criticized the release, calling it “yet another example of Donald Trump and the Republicans illegally weaponizing the federal government for political purposes.”Sherrill served as a Navy helicopter pilot from 1994 to 2003 and later became a prosecutor. She earned an Achievement Medal in 1991 for saving the life of a Naval Academy classmate.