Affirmative Action Lawsuit: US Naval Academy Says Race-Based Admissions Necessary

An attorney for the U.S. Naval Academy said Monday that the elite military school should continue using race and ethnicity in admissions, because it was not where it needed to be in building a diverse student body.

“Real progress is being made,” Joshua Gardner said in U.S. District Court in Baltimore. “We’re just not there yet.”

The Annapolis-based service academy has been sued by Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA). The group won a victory in the U.S. Supreme Court last year in its case against affirmative action policies at Harvard and the University of North Carolina, with the justices rejecting the use of racial and ethnic preferences in college admissions. But the high court specified in its ruling that the military’s service academies may have “distinct” interests in considering race and ethnic background, carving out a potential exemption, which SFFA is challenging.

U.S. officials have argued that a diverse leadership is necessary for cohesion within the armed ranks and is vital to national security. But an attorney for the Students for Fair Admissions disputed that the use of racial preferences in Naval Academy admissions would necessarily achieve such diversity.

“We’re told it’s all about making Naval officers,” Adam Mortara said in his opening statement in court, noting that just 28% of Naval officers graduated from the Academy, so the impact of affirmative action there would ultimately be minimal.

The admissions group presented its first witness, retired Air Force Brigadier Gen. Christopher S. Walker, to provide boots-on-the-ground support for its argument against racial and ethnic considerations.

Walker, who is Black and graduated from his services academy, went through his 40 years in uniform, deploying to multiple combat zones and serving in operational and command positions. He was asked by an SFFA attorney repeatedly about what impact race played in his units’ lethality and effectiveness, or how he chose who to add to a crew.

His answer, repeatedly: “Not a bit.”

Gardner made a point that race and ethnicity are among multiple factors that are considered, and only after candidates meet a range of other qualifications.

“It’s not considered in isolation,” he said. “No candidate is admitted solely because of race.”

The opening statements provided something of a road map to what is expected to be about a two-week trial in which Naval Academy officials will testify.

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