Lawyers Offer Closing Arguments in Trial Over Whether Naval Academy Can Consider Race in Admissions

BALTIMORE — The question of whether the Naval Academy can continue to consider an applicant’s race in its admissions process now rests in the hands of a federal judge.

Lawyers on either side of the legal question presented closing arguments Thursday in Baltimore’s U.S. District Court, arguing in support of and against a lawsuit filed by an anti-affirmative action group, Students for Fair Admissions, seeking to end the practice of race-conscious admissions at the Annapolis service academy.

U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett said he would issue an opinion on the matter in the next six or seven weeks.

Students for Fair Admissions successfully sued Harvard and the University of North Carolina, leading to a Supreme Court decision ending those schools’ race-conscious admission policies. But the high court’s ruling left open whether America’s service academies have “potentially distinct interests” that should allow them to continue considering race and ethnicity.

The anti-affirmative action group now argues the Naval Academy discriminates based on race and that its admission policy should be deemed illegal.

“Racial classifications are wrong,” Patrick Strawbridge, an attorney for Students for Fair Admissions, told Bennett on Thursday, arguing that a person’s race is not an indicator of what they can accomplish or how well they can serve their country. “People who want to serve deserve the opportunity to do so without their race playing any part.”

Attorneys for the U.S. Department of Justice defended the Naval Academy against the lawsuit. It contends that the military universities have interests unique from their civilian counterparts — interests that benefit from having a diverse student body that reflects the makeup of the nation.

“A diverse military is a more effective military,” Catherine M. Yang told Bennett, adding that having more minorities at the Naval Academy would lead to a more diverse officer corps, enhancing internal functions and public trust.

Backed by Congress, military leaders determined that having “a diverse officers corps is a strategic advantage,” said Yang, arguing that the court should not interfere with that judgment.

In its lawsuit filed last year, Students for Fair Admissions accused the Naval Academy of violating the Equal Protection Clause of the Fifth Amendment, which says in part that a person has the right to demand a “governmental actor” to “justify any racial classification subjecting that person to unequal treatment.”

Attorneys for the group contend that clause mandates the academy show that its consideration of race in admissions was “narrowly tailored” to “further compelling governmental interests.”

Justice Department lawyers described the Naval Academy’s reasoning for considering race and bolstering diversity in legal briefs leading up to trial.

“An unparalleled fighting force is fundamental to this country’s national security,” they wrote. “Based on more than two centuries of military history, decades of combat experience, and internal and external analyses, the most senior leaders in the Armed Forces have repeatedly concluded that a more diverse officer corps makes a more effective force: more lethal, more likely to attract and retain top talent, and more legitimate in the eyes of the nation and the world.”

Attorneys for Students for Fair Admissions called the government’s reasoning ambiguous, and thus not narrowly tailored.

In court, Strawbridge argued that the evidence presented throughout the two-week bench trial showed the Naval Academy lacked information about the effects of its consideration of race in admissions and had an “amorphous definition of what qualifies as success.” He suggested that meant that the policy was not narrowly tailored.

“The academy cannot tell you which students got in because of their boost of race,” Strawbridge said. “The Navy can track everything in its awesome arsenal except the effect of race on its admission process.”

To emphasize the importance of the overarching goals of race-conscious admissions, Yang said, the academy called to testify a pair of military historians who recounted thousands of racial confrontations within the Armed Forces and spoke of diminishing trust with allies.

“The Naval Academy does not use race in isolation,” said Yang, explaining that race is not a determinant that its admissions office uses to decide whether someone is qualified for the academy, but a factor to be considered alongside the applicant’s qualifications. She said that fact showed the program was narrowly tailored.

If the academy’s consideration of applicants’ race wasn’t limited, Yang argued, the student body already would reflect national demographics.

“There has absolutely been progress,” Yang said. “We are just not there yet.”

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