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Right call on pregnant mid

When a senior midshipman turned up pregnant just weeks before graduation, Navy leaders faced a quandary: bar her from graduation because of a clear violation of academy rules, or let her graduate and risk making a mockery of the rule itself.

They chose the wiser path and let her graduate.

Under academy policy, a pregnant mid would face a grim choice: disappear for a year’s leave of absence and return without her child to finish her studies; or resign her appointment and, assuming she had completed more than two years at the academy, repay the government $150,000 for her education.

Midshipmen are physically active, facing demanding schedules including athletics, marching and rigorous PT requirements. They are under intense pressure — academically, physically and even socially. It’s no place to endure nine months of pregnancy, it’s no place for a spouse — midshipmen are forbidden to marry — and it’s no place to try to raise a child.

That’s why there are rules against those things.

But leadership isn’t just about sticking to the rules. It’s also about knowing when rules should be waived.

The young woman in question was two exams away from completing her course requirements, had met all of her physical requirements and was within a month of her wedding day. She had earned the right to graduate, and allowing her to do so was not going to bring discredit on the Navy.

But barring her from graduation would have carried disproportionate and serious penalties: She could take a year off, but would then have to have her baby out of wedlock and give up legal custody to return in a year for two measly tests; or she could resign, at the cost of $150,000.

Those aren’t reasonable punishments for the “crime” in question, and wiser heads prevailed.

There’s a lesson there for leaders everywhere.