Thomas Modly, the acting Secretary of the U.S. Navy, has abruptly resigned from his post after falling under intense scrutiny. Modly was widely criticized after reports emerged of him insulting former U.S.S. Roosevelt Capt. Brett Crozier, who was fired fom his post after asking the military to step in and help sailors on his ship who had been infected by the coronavirus or were at risk of being infected.
When Crozier was fired, his shipmates gave him a roaring standing ovation that went viral. Modly went in the exact opposite direction, making a trip to Guam where the Roosevelt is currently stationed and directly insulting Crozier, calling him "stupid" in a meeting with the ship's crew.
Speaking directly to the crew over the ship's loudspeaker, Modly described Crozier as "too naive or too stupid to be the commanding officer of a ship like this," and accused Crozier of deliberately leaking the letter he wrote asking for assistance for his crew. Nearly 200 members of the Roosevelt crew have tested positive for coronavirus.
After understandable outrage from the media, public, and specifically the crew's family members, members of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee began calling for his resignation.
Modly attempted to walk back his criticism slightly. In a letter published Monday night he wrote:
"Let me be clear, I do not think Captain Brett Crozier is naive nor stupid. I think, and always believed him to be the opposite ... We pick our carrier commanding officers with great care. Captain Crozier is smart and passionate. I believe, precisely because he is not naive and stupid, that he sent his alarming email with the intention of getting it into the public domain in an effort to draw public attention to the situation on his ship. I apologize for any confusion this choice of words may have caused."
Needless to say, those comments did not help the situation.
By Tuesday morning, Modly offered his resignation in a formal letter and minutes later formally resigned from his post, according to The Washington Post.
The Defense Department (which reportedly pressured Modly to apologize) and U.S. Navy have not commented on his resignation. However, according to CNN, Undersecretary of the Army James McPherson has been picked to succeed Modly in his post.
Modly was in his position for less than 5 months and had yet to have the "acting" portion of his title changed to full Secretary of the Navy.
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Problematic homework question
A student’s brilliant homework answer outsmarted her teacher's ridiculously sexist question
From an early age, children absorb societal norms—including gender stereotypes. But one sharp 8-year-old from Birmingham, England, challenged a sexist homework question designed to reinforce outdated ideas.
An English teacher created a word puzzle with clues containing “UR.” One prompt read “Hospital Lady,” expecting students to answer “nurse.”
While most did, Yasmine wrote “surgeon”—a perfectly valid answer. Her father, Robert Sutcliffe, shared the incident on X (formerly Twitter), revealing the teacher had scribbled “or nurse” beside Yasmine’s response, revealing the biased expectation.
For Yasmine, the answer was obvious: both her parents are surgeons. Her perspective proves how representation shapes ambition. If children only see women as nurses, they internalize limits. But when they witness diversity—like female surgeons—they envision broader possibilities.
As Rebecca Brand noted in The Guardian: “Their developing minds are that little bit more unquestioning about what they see and hear on their screens. What message are we giving those impressionable minds about women? And how might we be cutting the ambitions of little girls short before they've even had the chance to develop properly?”
X users praised Yasmine while critiquing the question. Such subtle conditioning reinforces stereotypes early. Research confirms this: a study found children as young as four associate jobs with gender, with girls choosing “feminine” roles (e.g., nursing) and boys opting for “masculine” ones (e.g., engineering).
Even preschoolers avoided careers misaligned with their gender, proving sexist conditioning begins startlingly young.
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The problem spans globally. Data from 50 countries reveals that by age 15, girls disproportionately abandon math and science, while boys avoid caregiving fields like teaching and nursing. This segregation perpetuates stereotypes—women are underrepresented in STEM, and men in caregiving roles—creating a cycle that limits both genders.
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This article originally appeared last year.