Naval Academy Superintendent's Congressional Testimony Contradicts Facts About Race-Based Admissions

By Victoria Manning

Admiral Davids denied that race-based admissions are used, but court documents prove otherwise.

On March 26, the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel required Superintendents of the U.S. Naval Academy, U.S. Military Academy, and U.S. Air Force Academy to testify at a hearing on the status of military service academies. The lack of hard questioning in the meeting was disappointing but the testimony of Admiral Davids revealed she was either uninformed or was not telling the truth to the committee.

In 2023, Students for Fair Admissions sued the U.S. Naval Academy (USNA) for using race as a factor in its admissions process. The plaintiffs lost in district court in December 2024, but President Trump's executive order prohibiting race-based initiatives in the military gave them a big win. Military academy superintendents were forced to change their policies; but in recent testimony to Congress, USNA Superintendent Admiral Yvette Davids denied using race as an element in admissions—a contradiction of the facts.

Davids testified that “at no time are race, sex, or ethnicity considered in the admissions process.” In response to a question from Senator Ted Budd (R-NC), Davids responded, "We have an incredible system tried and true. No race, sex, or ethnicity goals associated with them." She repeated, "No race, sex, or ethnicity whatsoever governed in the acceptance of who we actually take in."

There's unmistakable evidence what Davids said is false. In December 2024, Baltimore U.S. District Court Judge Richard Bennett ruled the Naval Academy could continue its race-based admissions practices. Court documents reveal the Academy did in fact admit students based on their race: "the Naval Academy admits that there are certain points in the admissions process where the Naval Academy may consider race or ethnicity as one of many nondeterminative factors."

The court brief gave further details:

"There are four instances where the Naval Academy considers race: (1) when offering letters of assurance; (2) when deciding between two candidates with very close WPMs for nominations using the “competitive” method, service-connected nominations, and in some circumstances the “principal competitive alternate” method; (3) when extending Superintendent nominations; and (4) when extending offers to additional appointees."

Court documents filed on March 28, 2025 reveal that Davids gave revised internal guidance on February 14, 2025, that directs, "neither race, ethnicity, nor sex can be considered as a factor for admission at any point during the admissions process, including qualification and acceptance." If race wasn't used in admissions as Davids testified to senators, why did she need to change her policy to prohibit race from being used?

A Dec. 17, 2024 memo indicates USNA tracks minority and female admissions. The class of 2028 had a minority representation of 44.2 %, the second highest in history. That's in stark contrast to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, which reports just 25% minorities for the class of 2027. The memo also revealed USNA had minority demographic goals related to the number of applicants.

Source: U.S. Naval Academy

The Long Game

It's uncertain what will happen with Judge Bennett's ruling that upheld race-based admissions practices at USNA since the school changed its policy. There is no guarantee USNA will not implement race-based admissions again in the future under a Democrat administration. It's important that Bennett's ruling not be permitted to stand and create precedent. There are legal methods to vacate the decision or render it moot that the plaintiffs should explore.

It already seems clear that race-based admissions practices violate the Constitution. Students for Fair Admissions proved this when the Supreme Court ruled in their favor in a 2023 case against Harvard prohibiting affirmative action in colleges and universities.

Unfortunately, the ruling did not apply to military academies.

Congress should take action to codify legislation against racist affirmative action practices so a future Democrat President cannot upend President Trump's actions. Congress must also hold academy superintendents to account for any actions that undermine the new directive against race-based practices. The Senate Armed Services Subcommittee must also hold Admiral Davids accountable for her less than honest testimony.

Restoration News asked Sen. Budd if he would seek further investigation of Davids' comments and whether she was being truthful. His spokesperson told us that Sen. Budd would:

continue to gather data regarding service academy admissions processes to ensure that Americans from all backgrounds are evaluated and promoted based on their merit—character, commitment, ability, and courage.

R. Lawrence Purdy's publication, "We all wear green, we all bleed red, there is no difference," is a splendid summary of why race-conscious admissions in the military are harmful. He summarizes it well by saying:

Perpetuating racial favoritism and its opposite, racial discrimination, does not heal a society; it poisons it. Policies that focus on race do not lead to a cohesive and effective military; they undermine it. Such policies have no place in our military.

Purdy presents a solid assessment of why race-based admissions are unconstitutional and destructive in his in-depth paper. Most notably there is no "prevailing legal authority" that permits anyone to "racially discriminate against American military personnel, much less against service academy applicants."

To have a unified and strong military, it must return to judging people by the content of their character and the merit of their abilities, not the color of their skin.

Victoria Manning is a Senior Investigative Researcher for Restoration News specializing in education freedom, abortion, and immigration, and the author of Behind the Wall of Government Schools. Victoria served eight years as an elected Virginia Beach School Board member with a master’s degree in law. She also brings the perspective of a military spouse and mother to her reporting

Republished with permission from Restoration News.