Student walkout doesn't stop naval academy

December 16, 2004

BY ROSALIND ROSSI
Education Reporter
Chicago Sun-Times

Even a last-minute walkout by hundreds of Senn High School students Wednesday couldn't persuade Chicago School Board members to drop a plan to put a U.S. Naval Academy program in the school.

About 500 Senn students walked out of the Northwest Side school to protest the plan to convert most of the school's south wing into a naval academy, starting this fall, Assistant Principal Badel Khano said.

Many of them showed up at School Board headquarters, where they shook off subfreezing temperatures and picketed outside the building, then packed Board chambers and an overflow room to watch the proceedings.

"Is this whole thing fixed?'' senior class president Joddite Woldegevriel, 17, asked board members. "Why Senn?''

"We don't want a naval academy to take over our freshman wing. It's like they are invading our space,'' Woldegevriel added later. "They are just going to take space away from Senn.''

Alderman a backer

Critics have charged that squeezing the existing 1,700 students into the remaining space would hurt current programs. They fear Senn would become a recruiting site for the military.

Supporters say the plan would bring the school $2.1 million and offer a new citywide option.

The plan's backers included 48th Ward Ald. Mary Ann Smith, whose naval aviator husband attended college on the GI bill. Smith wrote to board members: "I believe such a facility will provide new options for students in our community, offer a high-quality college preparatory program, instill discipline and create an environment for academic excellence.''

Board members unanimously approved the plan, with Board President Michael Scott later saying he was convinced existing programs wouldn't be shortchanged. Although some critics might be expressing an "anti-military sentiment'' now, Scott said, Senn has had a successful ROTC program for years and "no outrage was expressed then.''

Contributing: Kate N. Grossman