Midshipman 1st Class Sydney Barber is set to become the first black woman to be named as student brigade commander at the US Naval Academy.
Barber will be become brigade commander, the highest leadership position within the student body, next semester.
The semester-long position is selected through an application and interview process by senior leadership and the commandant´s staff.
Barber, of Lake Forest, Illinois, is a mechanical engineering major and aspires to commission as a Marine Corps ground officer, according to the release.
She also worked to help advance the prospects of young women of color by creating a STEM mentorship program and organizing a networking breakfast to connect currently enlisted black midshipmen with alumni.
Barber will be the 16th woman selected for brigade commander in the 44 years women have been attending the academy.
The first female brigade commander was then-Midshipman Juliane Gallina, who served in the position in 1991.
The release said the commandant of midshipmen announced new student leadership positions Friday.
‘Earning the title of brigade commander speaks volumes, but the title itself is not nearly as significant as the opportunity it brings to lead a team in doing something I believe will be truly special,’ Barber said in a statement.
‘I am humbled to play a small role in this momentous season of American history.’
Barber has credited trailblazers like Janie Mines, the first black woman to graduate from the Naval Academy, for her success.
‘Something that inspires me is knowing the legacy of those who have come before me as a midshipman – people like Janie Mines,’ Barber said in a video posted last month by the US Naval Academy Alumni Association & Foundation.
‘The difference between her experience and mine is she was called racial slurs on a daily basis.’
‘Now I get to walk here and follow in her footsteps and be her wildest dream.
‘Those are the things that motivate me – knowing that I’m standing on the shoulders of giants.
‘I hope that one day I can also be the giant and someone can stand on my shoulders, too.’
Mines, 62, graduated from the academy in 1980, when she earned a Bachelor of Science in General Engineering.
On her LinkedIn account, Mines congratulated Barber, writing: ‘This bought me to tears.
‘This young woman, Midshipman Sydney Barber, will be the first Black Female Brigade Commander at the US Naval Academy. 40 years later.
‘Thank you Sydney! Love you!’
In another message, Mines wrote: ’40 years later, Sydney, you did it. You are my wildest dream.
‘Thank you for all the hard work. So well deserved.’
The current brigade commander, Midshipman 1st Class Ryan Chapman, praised his successor.
‘She is a catalyst for action, a visionary, a listener, a doer and a person driven by compassion, by faith, by a fierce sense of passion and heart full of love,’ Chapman said in a statement.
‘Sydney is the perfect person to lead the brigade.’
Barber’s impressive resume also includes an internship at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
This year, she was named a Truman Scholar national finalist for her work in researching and developing legislative strategies to address education disparities in communities of color.
‘Sydney stands out amongst her peers, for not only her exemplary record, but for her clear vision of how she intends to make the world a better place and her accompanying bias for action,’ Lieutenant Commander Darby Yeager said in a statement.
Barber isn’t the only black service member to make history this year after being promoted.
This past summer, Lieutenant junior grade Madeline Swegle became the first black female US Naval officer to become a tactical jet pilot since naval aviation began more than a century ago.
She received the coveted ‘Wings of Gold’ insignia.
‘I am really honored that I get to wear the wings and get to fly planes and call myself a pilot,’ said Swegle in a Navy video released ahead of a ceremony that was posted on YouTube.
‘I don’t think the goal in my life is to necessarily be the first at anything. That was never something that I set out to do, it was just something I was interested in and I found out later,’ she said.
A day after Swegle’s history-making accomplishment was announced, the Army said that it had admitted its first-ever female enlistee into the elite Green Beret unit.
