Passing Look

Midshipman William A. Kennington, coxswain of Navy's unbeatable (29 straight victories) crew, was a man with a past--four scholarly, nonathletic years at Vanderbilt University. Normally, no one would care. Last week, egged on by the Eastern College Athletic Conference, Annapolis authorities gave Kennington's past more than a passing look, and learned that they had made an embarrassing mistake.

Said Academy Superintendent Vice Admiral C. Turner Joy: "Although Kennington did not participate in intercollegiate athletics at Vanderbilt, he was ineligible for varsity participation at the Naval Academy* . . . Proud as we are to win championships, we do not want victory at the expense of the rules or at the cost of good sportsmanship ..." The trophies won by the Navy crew this season, seven in all, will be returned to the E.C.A.C. for the legal winners, if they want them. Coxswain Kennington will go on studying to become a naval officer.

*No student is eligible for intercollegiate athletics for more than five years, after he first enters college. A bachelor's degree also means the end of eligibility. Kennington was out on both counts.

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