March 29, 2025 Story by: Editor
The US Naval Academy has revised its admissions policy and will no longer consider race as a factor when evaluating applicants. This shift comes despite the academy’s previous stance of maintaining race-conscious admissions, even after the US Supreme Court barred similar affirmative action policies at civilian colleges.
The Trump administration announced the policy change in a court filing on Friday, requesting a suspension of an appeal filed by an anti-affirmative action group. The appeal had challenged a previous ruling that upheld the academy’s race-conscious admissions program.
Just days after returning to office in January, Donald Trump signed an executive order on January 27 that eliminated diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs within the military. Following this directive, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued guidance prohibiting the use of sex-based, race-based, or ethnicity-based goals in military admissions, organizational composition, and career fields.
In response, the US Department of Justice confirmed that Vice Admiral Yvette Davids, the Naval Academy’s superintendent, implemented new guidelines barring race, ethnicity, and sex as factors in admissions decisions.
The policy change is expected to impact an ongoing lawsuit filed by Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA), an organization led by Edward Blum, a well-known opponent of affirmative action. The group has also been challenging race-conscious admissions at other military academies.
Blum’s organization had previously secured a landmark victory in June 2023, when the Supreme Court’s 6-3 conservative majority ruled against affirmative action in college admissions. The decision struck down race-based admissions policies at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina, overturning decades-old practices aimed at increasing the enrollment of Black, Hispanic, and other minority students.
However, the ruling did not apply to military academies, as Chief Justice John Roberts acknowledged their “potentially distinct interests.”
Following that decision, Blum’s group filed three lawsuits seeking to eliminate the military academy exemption. The Naval Academy case was the first to go to trial.
Despite the legal challenge, US District Judge Richard Bennett in Baltimore ruled in favor of the Biden administration, affirming that the academy’s race-conscious admissions policy was constitutional at the time.
Source: The Guardian
