Photo: USMMA
United States Maritime Administration
Maritime Vice Admiral Joanna Nunan
Superintendent, United States Merchant Marine Academy
Fired: June 2025⚠ Key Findings
- 1 Ordered a historic painting covered with shower curtains after outsiders expressed offense at a portrait of Jesus. The "Christ on the Water" painting had hung in the former chapel for nearly 80 years. Nunan had it removed and relocated to the basement of the new chapel — next to the bathrooms — where a humid environment and known flooding risk may ultimately destroy it.
- 2 Despite the Defense Department rescinding the COVID vaccine mandate on January 10, 2023, Nunan kept the mandate in place at USMMA until March 10, 2023. Because the application deadline for the 2023–24 school year was March 1, 2023, her extension effectively required all incoming applicants to be vaccinated.
- 3 Appointed Anton Tripolskii as the sexual assault response director of USMMA at a salary of $143,000 per year. Tripolskii had a history of bigoted social media posts and sent a mass email to all midshipmen promoting an event to support the LGBTQ+ community. In 2020, he posted a picture of a church being blocked by police with the caption "This is my heaven," and had publicly advocated for defunding the police.
- 4 In October 2023, Rep. Banks sent a letter to Nunan demanding answers regarding her policy allowing midshipmen to receive a military service exemption if they pursue gender transition.
- 5 Reportedly asked a midshipman to conduct a poll regarding the term "midshipmen" because some in leadership felt the word was a "threat to diversity and inclusion" — with "midship-people" proposed as an alternative. Polling results showed 100% of midshipmen were in favor of keeping the longstanding term unchanged.
- 6 Previously served as the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) chief at the Coast Guard Academy prior to her appointment as USMMA Superintendent.
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