The Annapolis-based U.S. Naval Academy will no longer consider race, ethnicity or sex as a factor in its admissions process, according to new court filings.

The move to end affirmative action at the Naval Academy comes despite a federal judge ruling last year that the practice was constitutional. Directives from the administration of President Donald Trump prompted the academy to reverse course, according to a court motion filed by the Department of Justice on Friday.

Trump in January issued an executive order noting that the armed forces, including military academies, should “operate free from any preference based on race or sex.” Days later, a memorandum from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth prohibited any Department of Defense component from establishing “sex-based, race-based or ethnicity-based goals for organization composition, academic admission or career fields.”

In response, Naval Academy Superintendent Vice Admiral Yvette M. Davids issued revised internal guidance in February noting that “neither race, ethnicity, nor sex can be considered as a factor for admission at any point during the admissions process, including qualification and acceptance,” according to court documents.

The move could end the academy’s legal battle with Students for Fair Admissions, which challenged its consideration of race in admissions last year. A district court judge in Baltimore upheld the Naval Academy’s admissions policies in December. Students for Fair Admissions immediately appealed the decision and vowed it would take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, if needed.

Edward Blum, president of Students for Fair Admissions, said in a statement that the end of affirmative action at the Naval Academy “begins the restoration of meritocracy at our nation’s military academies.”

The Naval Academy declined to comment.

Trump has shown a keen interest in the nation’s military academies, ordering a review of their “leadership, curriculum and instructors.”

Last month, instructors at the Naval Academy were told they were no longer permitted to use materials in the classroom that taught about systemic racism and sexism, according to an internal email obtained by The Baltimore Banner.

Instructors were also told not to promote the concepts of “environmental justice” or “gender ideology.”

Trump also replaced the presidential appointees on the Naval Academy’s board of visitors.

U.S. Rep. Sarah Elfreth, a congressional appointee to the board, said in a statement that “The U.S. Naval Academy graduates the most qualified and capable individuals who have all passed the same set of standards and who simply want to serve their country.”

“A Navy and Marine Corps that reflects the diversity of our country is our strongest Navy and Marine Corps. The divisive culture wars that President Trump and Secretary Hegseth are choosing to foment don’t make our country any more safe — they only serve to divide.”

A leading civil rights group said Friday that prior to Trump, multiple administrations maintained policies supporting the military’s diversity efforts.

“For over 60 years, and across Republican and Democratic presidencies, the government has recognized that racial diversity is essential to the strength of our armed forces,” Leah Watson, a senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union’s Racial Justice Program, said in an email.

Watson added that affirmative action “helps dismantle systemic barriers that have disproportionately impacted Black service members, especially Black women.”

Students for Fair Admissions was the same group behind a landmark 2023 Supreme Court ruling that effectively ended affirmative action at most of the nation’s elite colleges and universities.

The majority opinion by Chief Justice John Roberts included a carve-out for military academies, which Roberts wrote might have “distinct interests.” Within months, Students for Fair Admissions filed a fresh round of lawsuits, this time targeting policies at military schools.

The case against the Naval Academy was the first to go to trial. Lawyers argued that the school’s limited consideration of race in admissions was vital to national security because diversity enhances unit cohesion, recruitment efforts and the military’s legitimacy.

Students for Fair Admissions, meanwhile, claimed efforts to boost minority enrollment unfairly discriminated against white applicants. Following a two-week bench trial, Judge Richard Bennett ruled in favor of the Naval Academy.

The appellate process has been delayed multiple times.

Now that the Naval Academy has changed its admissions policies, lawyers for the Department of Justice asked the court for additional time to consider “whether this litigation is now moot and, if so, whether the district court judgment should be vacated,” they wrote in court filings.

This story has been updated.

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