Nicholls never supported the program. The program did not grow like the Board of Regents and the administration assumed it would. Nicholls started the program, but now wants to eliminate it.

There's a huge crop of astronauts, captains of industry, and prisoners of war. And, although not every Naval Academy grad will be a war hero or the president of the United States, every grad can aspire to embrace the values espoused by our Distinguished Graduate Award recipients.

The students are extremely upset and feel betrayed. Members of our industry advisory committee are also quite upset about the decision. There may be some chance for appeal, but I don't know how likely that is.

The decision was very much a surprise. The department was told we were not supposed to be on the agenda.

I'm a strong Liberal. I've voted Liberal all my life. I probably will again. But not this time. It's time for a change.

Everything we said in that release came to fruition.