By Emma Olson, Summer Intern and Minnesota Youth Advisory Council Member

This week, the Pentagon nominated Lt. Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody to be the first woman in U.S. history to be a four-star Army general. While this is a huge step for the women’s movement, we still have a lengthy climb in front of us: women makeup only five percent of military officers and only 15 percent of all military academy students.

Looking from a more academic perspective, women comprise 57 percent of today’s college and university enrollment. One cannot help but see the irony in these numbers. This nation has young, intelligent women enrolling in elite universities in large quantities, but only 15 percent of the student bodies at our renowned military academies are women.

Women are not averse to service. To the contrary, women compromise 71% of the extremely competitive Teach for America, a national teacher corps of recent college graduates who commit to teaching under-resourced schools.

This is not just a women’s issue it is a serious issue for our whole country. We need all of our most talented individuals, men and women, serving their country. These potential public servants will go on to work in the private sector rather than furthering the interest of the public sector.

Creating the U.S. Public Service Academy would help to bridge this gap. Creating a four-year undergraduate institution would show our nation’s dedication to draw all young people into public service. The government made a proactive step this week in nominating Lt. Gen. Dunwoody, now Congress has to truly show its dedication to the women’s movement and the service moment by creating the U.S. Public Service Academy.