What’s New
A federal judge ruled Friday that the United States Naval Academy may continue to consider race or ethnicity in its admissions process, dealing a defeat to the advocacy group Students for Fair Admissions’ effort to expand the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision on race-conscious admissions to the nation’s military academies.
The 2023 decision, which stemmed from dual lawsuits against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, overturned a decades-old precedent by barring colleges nationwide from considering race in admissions. But the opinion, penned by Chief Justice John Roberts, exempted the country’s service academies. It did so, Roberts wrote, “in light of the potentially distinct interests that military academies may present.”
Friday’s ruling affirmed that notion, citing diversity within the officer corps as a compelling national-security interest.
SFFA’s president, Edward Blum, said in a statement quoted by several news outlets that the group will appeal the ruling.
The Details
In its June 2023 majority opinion, the Supreme Court ruled that admissions policies that consider race failed a “strict scrutiny” test of the Equal Protection Clause, which requires that such practices both “further compelling governmental interests” and that they be “narrowly tailored” to achieving those interests.
The court found that policies practiced by Harvard and UNC failed the test by being indefinite, lacking clearly defined metrics for success, and failing to sufficiently demonstrate “compelling governmental interests.” SFFA quickly moved to challenge the exception given to service academies, suing the U.S. Naval Academy and the United States Military Academy at West Point.
Friday’s ruling stalled that effort, arguing that military academies demonstrate a compelling interest not found at civilian institutions, and that judges should defer to the executive branch on the academies’ practices.
“Over many years, military and civilian leaders have determined that a racially diverse officer corps is a national-security interest,” wrote Senior District Judge Richard D. Bennett of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, in part. Unlike the policies practiced by Harvard and UNC, Bennett concluded, the Naval Academy’s admissions policy is tied to a measurable goal: “a diverse officer corps in the Navy and Marine Corps.” That goal, he wrote, presents a compelling government interest, and its practice is “narrowly tailored.”
Furthermore, Bennett found that since the Academy functions as a branch of the Navy, its admissions policies are “fundamentally a military personnel issue.” As such, its admissions practices should be determined by the executive, rather than judicial, branch. “Quite simply, this Court defers to the executive branch with respect to military personnel decisions,” Bennett wrote. “Specifically, as noted infra, ‘under Article II of the Constitution, the President of the United States, not any federal judge’ ultimately makes such decisions.”
What to Watch for
The incoming Trump administration could move to alter the Naval Academy’s admissions policy. Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, has repeatedly and publicly denounced efforts to diversify the armed forces and suggested that women should not serve in combat roles.
In his June 2024 book, The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free, Hegseth wrote of diversity initiatives that “the tragedy of these emotionally stunted, angry, race-based people is that they have an ax to grind — and will grind it.” He continued, “Take it to the racist bank: black troops, at all levels, will be promoted simply based on their race. Some will be qualified; some will not be.”
Meanwhile, SFFA’s lawsuit against West Point is still working its way through the courts.
