5 Things to Know About the Naval Academy Cheating Scandal From the 1990s
26th September 2025
Over 30 years ago, a scandal rocked the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, launching an investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and uncovering evidence that more than 130 midshipmen might have cheated on an exam.
The events surrounding the 1990s cheating scandal have resurfaced decades later to embroil a former mid. The military records of Democratic U.S. Rep. Mikie Sherrill, a Navy midshipman then and now a New Jersey gubernatorial candidate, were released by the National Archives in what Rep. Robert Garcia called an “illegal and likely politically motivated disclosure,” according to Politico.
Garcia, a California Democrat and ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, on Thursday called for an investigation into the release that appeared to implicated Sherrill in the academy cheating debacle.
Sherrill, a former Navy helicopter pilot, told The New Jersey Globe that she was not allowed to walk with her midshipmen mates at her 1994 graduation because she “didn’t turn in some of my classmates” during the cheating scandal.
“I will not lie, cheat, or steal, nor tolerate those who do.” Sounds pretty clear to me.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said in a post to the social media platform X on Thursday that the leak of Sherrill’s unredacted military records was “a betrayal of everyone who’s ever worn the uniform.”
Here are five things to know about one of the biggest scandals in recent history to unfold at the Naval Academy.