Avenger of the Week | Sydney Barber

The GenderAvenger of the Week is Midshipman 1st Class Sydney Barber, who was named the first Black woman Brigade Commander at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. She will serve in the highest leadership position of the 4,500-member student body during the spring semester.

Barber, 21, a graduate of Lake Forest High School and a mechanical engineering major, was selected by the Academy leadership and its Commandant’s staff based on student records and interviews. She created a STEM mentoring program for young girls of color and organized a networking breakfast for Black students and graduates. A former intern at the Department of Energy’s Livermore National Laboratory, she was also named a 2020 Truman Scholar finalist for her research on legislation for improving education in minority communities. When she’s not studying or organizing impactful events, Barber is on the track and field team, where she’s lettered for three years, serves as an officer of several Academy groups, and sings in a gospel choir. Her father, Kenneth Barber, is a 1991 graduate of the Naval Academy.

“Earning the title of brigade commander speaks volumes, but the title itself is not nearly as significant as the opportunity it brings to lead a team in doing something I believe will be truly special,” Barber said. “I am humbled to play a small role in this momentous season of American history.”

Before the Navy’s press release came out, the news was broken on social media by none other than Janie Mines, the first Black woman to graduate from the Naval Academy in 1980. Women were first accepted only four years earlier in 1976. Mines wrote: ‘This brought me to tears, 40 years later. This young woman is the Brigade Commander. Thank you, Sydney.”

Congratulate Avenger of the Week Sydney Barber!

The @GenderAvenger #AvengerOfTheWeek is @SydneyABarber, who was named the first Black woman Brigade Commander at the @NavalAcademy. “I am humbled to play a small role in this momentous season of American history.” #GenderAvenger https://genderavenger.com/blog/avenger-of-the-week-sydney-barber