It’s official: The U.S. Naval Academy will soon have a new superintendent.

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth confirmed Friday that Vice Admiral Yvette Davids, the first female superintendent at the Annapolis military college, is being reassigned to a post at the Pentagon. USNI News first reported on the leadership shakeup on Thursday.

President Donald Trump has tapped Marine Lt. Gen. Michael J. Borgschulte to replace Davids, who was nominated by President Joe Biden in 2023. If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Borgschulte, a 1991 Annapolis graduate, would be the first Marine to lead the school.

Davids would become deputy chief of Naval Operations for Operations, Plans, Strategy, and Warfighting Development, which is considered a lateral move.

“Vice Adm. Davids has commanded at every level and has led with distinction in some of the most complex security environments of our time,” Navy Secretary John Phelan said in a statement. “Her strategic vision and operational depth will be an exceptional asset to the Navy and the Department of Defense.”

Davids, who served as superintendent for only 18 months, also issued her own statement.

“I’m honored to be nominated as Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Operations, Plans, Strategy, and Warfighting Development,” she said. “I look forward to continuing to serve alongside America’s strongest warfighters.”

Davids is married to retired Rear Adm. Keith Davids, an academy graduate who led the Naval Special Warfare Command.

Davids’ reassignment is unusual, but it comes as Trump has been shattering norms, like firing the pioneering librarian of Congress, and as he and Hegseth have waged war on diversity, equity and inclusion in the armed forces.

Superintendents are expected to lead the academy for three to four years. By law, the superintendent of a service academy usually must retire after serving in the position. The law does, however, allow for the possibility of the superintendent moving to a different role, at the discretion of the secretary of defense.

Pentagon officials offered no explanation for replacing Davids, who is also the first Hispanic person to hold the post.

“The Naval Academy remains one of the most consequential institutions in American public life,” Phelan said. “Lt. Gen. Borgschulte is uniquely prepared to lead the next generations of naval and marine officers and ensure they are ready for the future fight.”

While Davids was lauded when she took command at the Naval Academy in early 2024, in what is typically viewed as a career-capping move, she has had to walk a fine line since Trump was sworn in last January.

Trump, a Republican who was long faced questions about his attitudes on race and who was found liable in a sexual abuse case in 2023, has leaned into an anti-woke agenda in his second term. Hegseth, a former Fox News broadcaster, was grilled about his views on women in combat during his Senate confirmation hearings.

In Annapolis, faculty at the academy were told in February to avoid “divisive concepts” such as systemic racism and sexism. Trump also purged many members of the academy’s Board of Visitors, such as those appointed by Biden, deeming them too “woke” and replacing them with his own picks.

In March, the academy announced that it was ending affirmative action in admissions despite previously winning a federal court case defending the practice.

The academy then made headlines in April by removing nearly 400 books on race and gender, including Maya Angelou’s memoir and a book about the Holocaust, from its Nimitz Library. After public outcry, academy officials in May returned most of the books to circulation.

Two months later, Davids’ removal was announced.

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