The United States Naval Academy in Anapolis, Md., recently joined a growing list of schools that will no longer consider race, ethnicity or sex as a factor for admission, court documents made public Friday show.
The move follows an executive order issued by President Trump earlier this year that called for the shuttering of federal diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs and moved to end the use of affirmative action in hiring and admissions practices.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) filing in the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals shows that Naval Academy Superintendent, Vice Adm. Yvette Davids, made the decision in February, The Associated Press reported.
The decision comes after U.S. Senior District Judge Richard Bennett upheld the Naval Academy’s race-conscious admissions policy in a 175-page ruling late last year, rejecting a challenge from Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA), the same group that successfully argued against the practice at civilian higher education institutions before the Supreme Court in 2023.
The nation's highest court ruled in favor of largely gutting affirmative action at colleges and universities, but the decision did not apply to military academies. SFFA later filed a suit asking that the same ruling be considered for the Naval Academy — despite Bennett's argument that military cohesion and other national security factors meant the school should ...
