BALTIMORE (AP) — A federal judge on Friday ruled that the U.S. Naval Academy can continue considering race in its admissions process, finding that military cohesion and other national security factors mean the school should not be subjected to the same standards as civilian universities.
During a two-week bench trial in September, attorneys for the academy argued that prioritizing diversity in the military makes it stronger, more effective and more widely respected.
The group behind the case, Students for Fair Admissions, also brought the lawsuit challenging affirmative action that resulted in a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year. The high court’s conservative majority broadly prohibited the consideration of race and ethnicity in college admissions, ending a longstanding practice meant to boost opportunities for historically marginalized groups and sending shockwaves through higher education. But it carved out a potential exemption for military academies, suggesting that national security interests could affect the legal analysis.
Students for Fair Admissions later sued the Annapolis-based Naval Academy challenging the exemption.
But Judge Richard Bennett rejected their arguments in a lengthy opinion released Friday.
A George W. Bush appointee who served for over 20 years in the U.S. Army Reserve and the Maryland National Guard, Bennett wrote that the school had “established a compelling national security interest in a diverse officer corps.”
“Specifically, the Academy has tied its use of race to the realization of an officer corps that represents the country it protects and the people it leads,” he wrote. “The Academy has proven that this national security interest is indeed measurable and that its admissions program is narrowly tailored to meet that interest.”
Bennett noted that demographics are a minor factor in Naval Academy admissions — no one is admitted solely on the basis of race. He also noted that Students for Fair Admissions includes among its membership “four individuals whose prior applications to the U.S. Naval Academy were denied.”
In a statement Friday, President Edward Blum said the group would appeal the decision.
“It is our hope that the U.S. military academies ultimately will be compelled to follow the Supreme Court’s prohibition of race in college admissions,” he said.
Attorneys for the group argued during trial that prioritizing minority candidates is unfair to qualified white applicants and that cohesion should arise from other sources such as training and command structure.
The group also sued West Point last year, but the Naval Academy case was the first case to go to trial.
Witness testimony included accounts from current and former high-ranking military officials who expressed varying opinions on how race affects the experiences of service members and the organization as a whole. Some argued that performance standards alone should be used to evaluate candidates while others emphasized the importance of fostering diversity.
The court also heard from historians who described the military’s fraught history of racial tension, which on some occasions erupted into violence and jeopardized its wartime readiness.
“The United States military has long made the judgment that developing and maintaining a fighting force that is qualified and demographically diverse at all levels is critical for mission effectiveness,” Bennet wrote in his ruling.
The Legal Defense Fund, which filed a brief in support of the Naval Academy, celebrated the outcome.
“The military is keenly aware that a climate of distrust caused by a lack of equal opportunity along racial lines risks mission failure and loss of life,” senior counsel Michaele Turnage Young said in a statement. “It is unfortunate that some are willing to undermine the safety of our sailors and risk our country’s national security by promoting exclusion.”
Currently, the Naval Academy’s admissions process considers many factors, including grades, extracurricular activities, life experience and socioeconomic status, according to court testimony. Race often plays no role in the process, but sometimes it comes under consideration in a “limited fashion,” attorneys for the academy wrote in court papers.
FILE - An entrance to the U.S. Naval Academy campus in Annapolis, Md., is seen Jan. 9, 2014. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)
An Azerbaijani airliner has crashed in Kazakhstan after being diverted, killing 38 of 67 people on board. Some experts alleged that the plane went down after being hit by Russian air defense systems.
Some things to know about the crash and the speculation about a possible cause:
Azerbaijan Airlines’ Embraer 190 was en route from Azerbaijani capital Baku to the Russian city of Grozny in the North Caucasus on Wednesday when it was diverted for reasons that aren't fully clear yet. It crashed while making an attempt to land in Aktau, Kazakhstan, after flying east across the Caspian Sea.
The plane went down near the coast about 3 kilometers (around 2 miles) from Aktau. Cellphone footage circulating online appeared to show the aircraft making a steep descent before hitting the ground and exploding in a fireball.
Rescuers have rushed 29 people who survived the crash to hospitals.
Azerbaijan observed a nationwide day of mourning on Thursday. National flags were lowered across the country, traffic across the country stopped at noon, and signals were sounded from ships and trains.
Speaking at a news conference Wednesday, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that the weather had forced the plane to change from its planned course.
Kazakhstani, Azerbaijani and Russian authorities say they are investigating the crash. Embraer told The Associated Press in a statement that the company is “ready to assist all relevant authorities.”
Russia’s civil aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, said that preliminary information indicated that the pilots diverted to Aktau after a bird strike led to an emergency on board.
Some experts alleged that the holes seen in the plane’s tail section pictured after the crash possibly indicate that it could have come under fire from Russian air defense systems fending off a Ukrainian drone attack.
Mark Zee of OPSGroup, which monitors the world’s airspace and airports for risks, said that the analysis of the fragments of the crashed plane indicate with a 90-99% probability that it was hit by a surface-to-air missile
Osprey Flight Solutions, an aviation security firm based in the United Kingdom, warned its clients that the “Azerbaijan Airlines flight was likely shot down by a Russian military air-defense system.”
Osprey CEO Andrew Nicholson said that the company had issued more than 200 alerts regarding drone attacks and air defense systems in Russia during the war.
In Azerbaijan, Caliber online newpspaper claimed that the airliner was fired upon by a Russian Pantsyr-S air defense system as it was approaching Grozny. It questioned why Russian authorities failed to close the airport despite the drone attack in the area on Wednesday, and why they didn’t allow the plane to land in Grozny or other Russian airports nearby after it was hit.
Asked Thursday about the claims that the plane had been fired upon by air defense assets, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “it would be wrong to make hypotheses before investigators make their verdict.”
Officials in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan have similarly avoided comment on a possible cause of the crash, saying it will be up to investigators to determine it.
Flowers and portraits are placed at the Consulate of Azerbaijan in the memory of victims of the Azerbaijan Airlines' Embraer 190 that crashed near the Kazakhstan's airport of Aktau, in St. Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)
In this image taken from video released by the Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service, rescuers transport wounded passengers from a medical plane after the Azerbaijani Airline crashed, near the Kazakhstani city of Aktau, upon their arrival at the Zhukovsky airport outside Moscow, Russia, on Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (Russian Emergency Ministry Press Service via AP)
St. Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov lays a bunch of flowers at the Consulate of Azerbaijan in the memory of victims of the Azerbaijan Airlines' Embraer 190 that crashed near the Kazakhstan's airport of Aktau, in St. Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)
Azerbaijan's national flag at half-mast in the memory of victims of the Azerbaijan Airlines' Embraer 190 that crashed near the Kazakhstan's airport of Aktau, is seen in front of a Government's building in the center of Baku, Azerbaijan, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Aziz Karimov)
The wreckage of Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 lays on the ground near the airport of Aktau, Kazakhstan, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2024. (AP Photo/Azamat Sarsenbayev)
Azerbaijan's national flag at half-mast in the memory of victims of the Azerbaijan Airlines' Embraer 190 that crashed near the Kazakhstan's airport of Aktau, is seen in the center of Baku, Azerbaijan, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Aziz Karimov)
In this photo released by Kazakhstan's Emergency Ministry Press Service, rescuers work at the wreckage of Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 lies on the ground near the airport of Aktau, Kazakhstan, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (Kazakhstan's Emergency Ministry Press Service via AP)
In this photo taken from a video released by the administration of Mangystau region, Members of an investigation committee and local officials walk past the wreckage of Azerbaijan Airlines' Embraer 190 lying on the ground near the airport of Aktau, Kazakhstan, on Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (The Administration of Mangystau Region via AP)
In this photo taken from a video released by the administration of Mangystau region, a part of Azerbaijan Airlines' Embraer 190 lies on the ground near the airport of Aktau, Kazakhstan, on Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. (The Administration of Mangystau Region via AP)
