The U.S. Naval Academy is defending its race-conscious admissions policies in a federal trial initiated by Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA), the same group that successfully persuaded the U.S. Supreme Court to ban race-based admissions at civilian universities in 2023. This lawsuit challenges the military academy’s exemption from the ruling, which allows institutions like the Naval Academy to continue considering race in admissions decisions.
The group, founded by anti-affirmative action advocate Edward Blum, argues that the Naval Academy’s use of racial preferences is unlawful. SFFA’s lawyer, Adam Mortara, claims that the Annapolis-based academy is providing “significant” racial preference in admissions and contends that the academy has not evaluated whether eliminating race as a factor would impact student body diversity. Mortara also questioned the institution’s ability to effect real change in racial diversity within the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps officer ranks.
The U.S. Justice Department, defending the academy, argues that diversity is essential for improving military performance, recruitment, and retention. U.S. government attorney Joshua Gardner explained that race is considered as part of a “holistic” admissions process and stressed that no candidate is admitted solely based on race. He added that diversity within the military is crucial for addressing ongoing racial disparities between service members and officers.
This case builds on the June 2023 Supreme Court decision that invalidated race-conscious admissions policies at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina, both of which were sued by SFFA. That ruling, however, left military academies’ policies intact due to their “distinct interests,” as noted by Chief Justice John Roberts.
SFFA is now pushing to extend the Supreme Court’s ruling to military academies, arguing that these policies are discriminatory and violate the equal protection clause under the Fifth Amendment. Alongside this case, a similar lawsuit has been filed against the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York.