On behalf of the Connecticut Veterans Legal Center, students in the Veterans Legal Services Clinic prepared a report demonstrating the racial and ethnic inequities in congressional nominations to the U.S. military service academies. Drawing on information secured via Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests from the U.S. Air Force Academy, the U.S. Naval Academy, and the U.S. Military Academy for a prior report on gender disparities in nominations, students analyzed racial and ethnic demographic data for cadets and midshipmen nominated to service academies. The report covers nominations by Members of Congress from 1994-2019. In addition to releasing the summary report, the Veterans Legal Services Clinic has made the underlying FOIA data available to the public through the links below. The documents have been uploaded in the form that the clinic received from the academies’ FOIA offices.
Report:
Files:
USNA 2019 Data - Enclosure (1) Class Applied For and Ethnicity
USNA 2019 Data - Enclosure (2) Class Applied For and Gender
USNA 2019 Data - Enclosure (3) Nomination Year and Ethnicity
USNA 2019 Data - Enclosure (4) Nomination Year and Gender
Press Clips:
Lawmakers Nominate a Disproportionately High Number of White Students to Service Academies
Hay Racismo y Baja Representación de Minorías en Academias Militares, Dice Informe
Racial Disparities Among Military Officers Stem from Nomination Process, Report Suggests