The U.S. Naval Academy is returning to grooming standards it last instituted before 2018, the school announced.
Incoming female students for the class of 2030 will have to chop their hair so that it does not exceed their chin, a standard the the academy abided by until 2019 when it only required students to follow Navy-wide grooming standards for female recruits.
“Returning to a short haircut for women on I‑Day aligns them once again to a common standard plebes have maintained for generations,” a U.S. Naval Academy spokesperson told Military Times.
They further clarified that the return to old norms was to ensure that “male and female plebes share the same visible symbol of their commitment to naval service and to the team.”
I-Day stands for induction day, which marks the beginning of the summer training program known as “Plebe Summer” for all incoming freshmen.
Currently, the new grooming standard only applies to the incoming class of 2030.
Beginning in 1976, when women were first allowed into the U.S. Naval Academy, they were required to cut their hair at the chin or shorter to mark the transformation from civilian life to military life.
But in 2018, the school announced that incoming students for the class of 2022 would no longer have to comply with the decades-old requirement.
This continued for several years until the recent reinstatement reverting back to old rules.
Current Navy policy stipulates that female service members must present their hair in a professional military appearance that does “not interfere with the proper wearing of headgear,” among several other standards.
When the headgear is worn, the female service member’s hair is not to be seen in the front and must be maintained in a bun or ponytail.
Riley Ceder is a reporter at Military Times, where he covers breaking news, criminal justice, investigations, and cyber. He previously worked as an investigative practicum student at The Washington Post, where he contributed to the Abused by the Badge investigation.
