US Naval Academy Defends Race-Conscious Admissions Policies in Court By Reuters

By Mike Scarcella and Nate Raymond

BALTIMORE – The group that successfully urged the U.S. Supreme Court to prohibit the use of race in college admissions has taken the U.S. Naval Academy to court, aiming to eliminate an exception that allows military academies to implement affirmative action policies.

A representative for Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA), an organization established by prominent opponent of affirmative action Edward Blum, argued before a federal judge in Baltimore that the Naval Academy is unlawfully applying "significant" racial preference in its admissions decisions for the Annapolis, Maryland-based institution.

The group seeks to leverage a June 2023 ruling by the 6-3 conservative majority in the Supreme Court, which banned long-standing policies used by civilian colleges and universities to promote the admission of Black, Hispanic, and other minority students. However, this ruling did not address the use of race as a factor in military academies’ admissions, as Chief Justice John Roberts noted that they have "potentially distinct interests."

The Biden administration has highlighted the importance of ensuring a diverse student body at the Naval Academy to help address the existing racial disparities between service members and officers in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps.

In response, Adam Mortara, the attorney for SFFA, contended that the academy had never evaluated whether the diversity of its student body would shift if race-conscious admissions practices were terminated, and he claimed it lacked the authority to significantly influence changes in the officer ranks of the armed forces.

"If they can’t meaningfully move the ball, they can’t do it all,” Mortara stated during his opening remarks before U.S. District Judge Richard Bennett.

Joshua Gardner, representing the U.S. Justice Department, countered that the academy indeed has a compelling interest in maintaining diversity, which he asserted positively impacts military performance, recruitment, and retention. He emphasized that the use of race in admissions is limited and integrated into a "holistic" evaluation process, insisting that "no candidate is admitted solely because of their race."

This trial follows a significant Supreme Court decision last year that struck down race-conscious admissions policies at Harvard and the University of North Carolina, both institutions that SFFA has sued for discrimination.

Blum’s organization contends that the Supreme Court’s ruling should also apply to military academies, asserting that their admissions policies are discriminatory and violate the equal protection clause of the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. SFFA has filed two lawsuits aimed at ending this exception, with the other case still pending in New York state against the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.