7TH BATT Non-Profit

About 7TH BATT Non-Profit

Our two-fold mission: 1. Lift up scholars, mentors, educators, and USNA alumni charitable efforts focused on communities of color, through networking and fiscal support, to overcome and eliminate barriers to minority success and wealth! 2. Build a community among the thousands of alumni and current Midshipmen through our shared USNA experiences, providing networking and mentorship opportunities to further strengthen our bonds. Building on the shoulders of those who came before us, the 7TH BATT non-profit was started in June 2020 by black US Naval Academy graduates (USNA ‘93). We came together as a call to arms after George Floyd’s tragic and unnecessary death to help address ongoing social injustices, overcome systemic racism, and foster real lasting change. BATT is military shorthand for battalion and the Naval Academy student body (Brigade of Midshipman) is traditionally organized into six battalions. Our 7TH BATT lineage can be traced back to the Annapolis, MD “yard” as a means for minorities to self-help. It was initially set in motion in King Hall when a few minority seniors (USNA ’72) dared to make a difference. They orchestrated the idea of making an announcement during evening meals that “…anyone taking the ‘Sickle Cell Anemia test’ report to Chauvenet Hall Room 216 to review their results”. It was after this initial meeting that Midshipman 2nd Class K. D. Dunn and his classmates chartered the El Dorado Social Club (EDSC) forging a network for minority Midshipmen to enhance their own professional and personal development; essentially organizing an informal seventh battalion. Over the past decades there have been many other great self-help champions, most notably Capt Ken Johnson and Lt Don Montgomery (USNA ’74). They all set the stage for what has since evolved into the Midshipmen Black Studies Club which current attendees and alumni alike all affectionately refer to as the 7TH BATT.

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