President Gerald R. Ford signed legislation October 7, 1975, permitting women to enter the military academies. Women entered the Air Force Academy for the first time on June 28, 1976. The first class with women graduated in
May 1980, and were nicknamed "80's Ladies". Twelve percent of the women who graduated from
the Air Force Academy in 2003 reported that they were victims of rape or attempted rape while at the Academy.
1 It is estimated that about 20 percent of all women
students were victims; few of the alleged attackers have graduated, despite insufficient evidence for courts martial. Sexual predation was mainly directed toward freshmen and
sophomores who were under 21 and blackmailed after accepting alcohol from upperclass cadets. Women who complained were generally
pushed or counciled out of the academy, ostensibly for alcohol abuse and
fraternization which led to the situation in which rapes occurred. This situation is thought to have been generally known among
the leadership of the United States Air Force, but little has been done until recently to correct the situation or to discipline
officers in leadership positions at the Academy
2 3; those that have been disciplined have often been scapegoats, including a Colonel who was forced into retirement despite having been
assigned to the Air Force Academy for only two months, well after the alleged rapes occurred.In more recent years, however (beginning specifically in the spring semester of 2003), new leadership was instated at the
Academy, and began sweeping changes to the Academy culture and environment in order to correct these problems and ensure that
they will not happen again.