Naval Academy Will No Longer Use Race in Admissions Decisions, So Legal Fight Put On Hold

Naval Academy Will No Longer Use Race in Admissions Decisions, So Legal Fight Put On Hold

On June 29, 2023, the United States Supreme Court outlawed the use of race in university admissions, as we reported: Supreme Court: Harvard and UNC Affirmative Action “invalidated under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment”:

The U.S. Supreme Court has dealt a blow to race-based affirmative action in college admissions and by implication elsewhere, putting to an end a narrow carve-out for higher education that had permitted colleges and universities to engage in otherwise unlawful conduct in the name of promoting diversity.

As Chief Justice John Roberts stated:

the Harvard and UNC admissions programs cannot be reconciled with the guarantees of the Equal Protection Clause. Both programs lack sufficiently focused and measurable objectives warranting the use of race, unavoidably employ race in a negative manner, involve racial stereotyping, and lack meaningful end points. We have never permitted admissions programs to work in that way, and we will not do so today.

But, as we covered here: The Supreme Court Should Apply Its Affirmative Action Ruling to Military Academies, there is an innocuous footnote near the beginning of the Court’s Affirmative Action opinion, stating that the opinion does not apply to the military academies:

The United States as amicus curiae contends that race-based admissions programs further compelling interests at our Nation’s military academies. No military academy is a party to these cases, however, and none of the courts below addressed the propriety of race-based admissions systems in that context. This opinion also does not address the issue, in light of the potentially distinct interests that military academies may present.

Of course, the Court was correct to so hold; it can’t rule on something not presented to it – federal courts are constitutionally prohibited from issuing advisory opinions, and rightly so.

So, Students for Fair Admissions, the same group that sued Harvard, filed suit against the U.S. Naval Academy, U.S. Naval Academy Sued Over Use of Race in Admissions, and West Point: Student Group that Won Affirmative Action Case Against Harvard and UNC Sues West Point for its Race-Based Admissions Policy

The cases proceeded along, with the Naval Academy case set on a faster track, and in December of last year the federal district, or trial-level, court issued a ruling stating that the Naval Academy could continue to use considerations of race in admissions: Federal Court Rules U.S. Naval Academy Can Consider Race in Admissions:

You can get the details of that case in the link, but here was my official prediction:

I have not completed my review of the behemoth 179-page opinion, but I would pause to note that [as] the U.S. Supreme Court…pointed out…, diversity is not a compelling interest justifying racial discrimination: “[J]ust as the alleged educational benefits of segregation were insufficient to justify racial discrimination [in the 1950s], see Brown v. Board of Education, the alleged educational benefits of diversity cannot justify racial discrimination today.”

So Judge Bennett, in the face of that guidance, said diversity supporting national security is a compelling interest. I cannot imagine SCOTUS going for that, and I officially predict that after the Fourth Circuit federal court of appeals affirms Judge Bennett’s order, that the Supreme Court will reverse and outlaw racial discrimination in service academy admissions.

Well, now we’ll never know, because in February the U.S. Naval Academy changed its admissions policy to discontinue any consideration of race in admissions:

Reuters has the story: US Naval Academy ends race consideration in admissions:

In a policy reversal in line with President Donald Trump‘s views, the U.S. Naval Academy will no longer consider race as a factor in admissions as the elite military school had long done to raise its enrollment of Black, Hispanic and other minorities.

The change was disclosed on Friday in a Justice Department legal filing, in an appeal by a group opposed to such affirmative action policies that challenged the race-conscious admissions program at the Naval Academy, located in Annapolis, Maryland…

Days after returning to office, Trump signed an executive order on January 27 that eliminated diversity, equity and inclusion programs in the military. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who was appointed by the Republican president, two days later issued guidance barring the military from establishing “sex-based, race-based or ethnicity-based goals for organizational composition, academic admission or career fields.”

In light of those directives, Naval Academy Superintendent Vice Admiral Yvette Davids issued guidance prohibiting the consideration of race, ethnicity or sex as a factor in its admissions process, the Justice Department filing said.

And here is some good language from the Government’s Motion to Stay the Appeal:

In response to those directives, in February 2025, the Naval Academy Superintendent, Vice Admiral Yvette M. Davids, determined that it was necessary to change the Naval Academy’s admissions policy. Under revised internal guidance issued by the Superintendent on February 14, 2025, neither race, ethnicity, nor sex can be considered as a factor for admission at any point during the admissions process, including qualification and acceptance…

On March 26, 2025, at an oversight hearing before the Subcommittee on Personnel of the United States Senate Committee on Armed Services, Superintendent Davids addressed the Naval Academy’s current admissions policy. She testified that “[a]t no time are race, sex, or ethnicity considered in the qualification of a candidate and there are no associated demographic goals or objectives.”…Moreover, “[r]ace, sex, and ethnicity are not considered when making offers of appointment.”

The Naval Academy’s change in policy bears directly on this litigation…The parties are continuing to discuss the details of the Naval Academy’s new policy and its effect on this litigation. In particular, the parties are continuing to discuss whether the change in policy renders this case moot and, if so, whether the district court judgment should be vacated.

And now the U.S. Court of Appeals has granted the Government’s Motion to Stay briefing in the Students for Fair Admissions v. Naval Academy case, putting the case on hold while the parties figure out the most elegant and effective way to get rid of it.

In case you were wondering, too, the West Point case has also been stayed (for 90 days) to let the parties figure out what to do.

From X:

I don't care if every person who wears a military uniform is white. Or if they're all black. Or purple or glittering gold. I just want them all to be good at killing people and breaking their things. That's the only reason we have the military. https://t.co/uoANXnYy6L

— Rex_Tudor_Coup (@iamgnurr) December 7, 2024

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