US Military Admissions Criteria: In a major shift, the United States Air Force Academy has stopped considering race, gender, or ethnicity in its admissions process. This decision follows a lawsuit that claimed the academy’s previous approach to building a diverse student body was unfair to some applicants.
The Justice Department revealed this change in a court filing on Friday, as reported by The New York Times. The policy change was formalized in early February. Gwendolyn R. DeFilippi, the acting assistant secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, issued a memorandum that removed identity-based quotas or goals from the admissions process. The new rule affects admissions, career field choices, and overall class composition.
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The Air Force Academy, located in Colorado, is now the second U.S. military academy to make such a change. The U.S. Naval Academy took similar steps just a month before.
Last month, the U.S. Naval Academy also updated its admissions policies. Vice Admiral Yvette M. Davids, the academy’s superintendent, announced in February 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.” This decision was part of a court filing made by the Justice Department, similar to the one about the Air Force Academy.
These changes at the Air Force and Naval academies are in line with a broader policy shift across the U.S. military. On January 27, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that directed all branches of the U.S. armed forces to eliminate any preferences based on race or gender.
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Just days later, on January 29, the Department of Defense followed up with its own directive. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth issued instructions stating that no unit or department under the DoD should maintain identity-based goals.
Justice Department lawyers have now asked the courts to delay hearings in both the Air Force and Naval Academy cases while these new policies are put into action.
