A federal district court upheld the U.S. Naval Academy‘s use of race-conscious admissions policies on Friday, rejecting a challenge brought by the same group that succeeded in the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision striking down affirmative action in higher education.
U.S. Senior District Judge Richard Bennett, nominated by former President George W. Bush, ruled that the academy’s policies serve a “compelling national security interest” by fostering a diverse officer corps for the Navy and Marine Corps, according to a lengthy 179-page decision.
Bennett emphasized that decisions about military personnel require deference to the executive branch, stating, “The Naval Academy’s race-conscious admissions policies are narrowly tailored to further a compelling governmental interest in national security.”
The ruling follows a nine-day trial in September, during which over a dozen witnesses from the plaintiff and the defendant sides offered competing testimony about the extent to which race and diversity are considered for admissions and recruitment. Bennett concluded that race is only one of several factors in the admissions process and is applied in limited, non-determinative circumstances. The court also noted the academy’s extensive race-neutral efforts, such as outreach programs and consideration of socioeconomic adversity.
Leah Watson, senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union’s Racial Justice Program, praised the decision in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
“We are encouraged by today’s ruling, which recognizes the importance of diversity in shaping leaders who can effectively respond to the complex global challenges our nation faces,” Watson said. “Today’s decision also unequivocally rejects the attempt by Ed Blum’s SFFA to apply the Harvard University and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill decision beyond their fact-specific context.”
Students for Fair Admissions, which filed the lawsuit in 2023 after it won a high court ruling striking down affirmative action admissions practices in public and private universities, argued the academy’s admissions practices discriminate based on race and should be deemed unconstitutional under the Supreme Court’s ruling in June of that year.
Edward Blum, SFFA’s president, expressed disappointment and confirmed plans to appeal to the Supreme Court if necessary.
“This organization is disappointed by the Court’s opinion. But just as we did in our successful lawsuits against Harvard and the University of North Carolina, SFFA will appeal this to the appellate court,” Blum said.
The Naval Academy, based in Annapolis, Maryland, receives up to 16,000 applications annually and admits about 1,000 students each year. Applicants must meet rigorous academic, physical, and leadership criteria, including securing a nomination from a federal official. Graduates are commissioned as officers with a five-year service commitment.
Blum’s group also has a similar but separate lawsuit pending over race-conscious admissions practices at the United States Military Academy.
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Some experts have said the incoming Trump administration could seek to revise race-based admissions practices at military academies unilaterally through policy changes at the Department of Defense.
“What the incoming Trump administration could do is essentially settle those cases,” Devon Westhill, president of the Center for Equal Opportunity, told the Washington Examiner last month. “I expect they will outlaw the use of race in admissions at the military academies, essentially mooting these cases.”