United States Naval Academy

As part of the Naval Academy's Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan, the academy will "require admissions specific cultural awareness and bias literacy training modules for everyone who directly support the admissions process and recruiting events (e.g. Admissions Staff, Blue and Gold Officers, Midshipmen, etc)."

As part of the Naval Academy's Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan, the academy will "review admissions scoring process to identify if it is unintentionally discriminatory against students from underrepresented populations and disadvantaged school districts that do not have the same opportunities for extracurricular activities or academic support for SAT/ACT prep because of school resources or familial responsibilities."

The academy's Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion "directly supports the Naval Academy's Strategic Imperative One: To recruit, admit, and graduate a diverse and talented Brigade of Midshipmen."

One of the objectives of USNA's 2030 Strategic Plan is to "[a]ttract and admit a talented Brigade of Midshipmen who represent the diversity of the nation and whose race, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and lived experiences are valued and leveraged to best fulfill the mission."

In the 2030 strategic plan, the USNA says attracting and admitting a "talented Brigade of Midshipmen who represent the diversity of the nation and whose race, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and lived experiences" is a primary objective.

According to the Military Times, "two federal judges recently rejected legal attempts to halt affirmative action in the military’s service academies." The decision temporarily allows the Military Academies to continue utilizing race-based admissions while the Courts process pending lawsuits.

The Academy's Master Academic Plan's goals include increasing "numbers of new faculty, staff, and midshipmen from underrepresented groups" and improving "the organizational climate for and representation from underrepresented groups." 

The Superintendent of the United States Naval Academy explained that, "The Class of 2024 will be the first group of midshipmen with a requirement to engage each other in these hard conversations as a part of their development as empathetic leaders of character."

The Superintendent of the United States Naval Academy said, "Training sessions about the importance of diversity to our institution are scheduled for all classes of midshipmen throughout the fall semester; all faculty and staff will also be trained on diversity, equity and inclusion."

As part of the Naval Academy's Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan, the academy will "increase cultural aptitude of USNA population to promote inclusivity." Additionally, the academy will, "integrate cultural values and bias literacy into the leadership competencies and leadership classes" and "include a cultural values inventory within the freshman year."

On November 1, 2022, the academy published its "Institutional Assessment Report" and stated that "The Center for Academic Excellence (CAE) launched the MGSP [Midshipmen Group Study Program] Equity Initiative." The initiative "focused on ensuring the MGSP teams are diverse and that MGSP leaders received training in creating an equitable environment, identifying implicit biases, and enhancing the attendee experience."

On June 28, 2020, the academy's online paper Capital Gazette published an article titled "Different but challenging: Naval Academy prepares for Induction Day and Plebe Summer" which states that "Lessons also change, with training blocks on implicit bias being added in response to the Black Lives Matter movement. These lessons are in addition to the diversity training program already in place."

In DEI 101, a briefing given to practitioners and trainers to give them knowledge and understanding of DEI concepts and to prepare them to implement a lasting DEI culture across their commands, a section is titled "We All Have Bias." The section explains bias awareness and mitigation help create "an inclusive environment where we are aware of and mitigate our bias allowing diversity to thrive and creating a sense of authentic belonging for all."

As part of the Naval Academy's Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan, the academy will "partner with Academic Departments in conducting a comprehensive curriculum review prioritizing the inclusion of marginalized scholarship and hidden histories within midshipmen education" and "develop a diversity and inclusion checklist and schedule to inventory and assess all academic classes and training events."

In the USNA Master Academic Plan, "Fostering Equity, Diversity, & Inclusivity" is a part of the educational philosophy.

The USNA will be instituting “a confidential process for reporting bias incidents for non-punitive informational purposes to proactively identify areas for potential additional training.”

As part of the Naval Academy's Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan, the academy will "develop and maintain a comprehensive cultural awareness and bias literacy training framework that includes annual training for all USNA leadership, faculty, staff, and midshipmen with specialized modules for key areas of emphasis as they concern admissions, leadership positions, and members of selection panels."

As part of the Naval Academy's Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan, the academy will "require specific bias literacy training modules for midshipmen leadership positions, all members of selection panels, and all personnel sitting on Midshipmen review boards."

In February 2024, USNA's Computer Science Department hosts the Jean Bartik Computing Symposium which "[brings] women and underrepresented minorities from computing at the service academies together with their professional counterparts in the military and government." The symposium "offer[s] meaningful workshops and sessions that will promote their [women and URM's] advancement into military and government professions of their choice."

The USNA Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ODEI) supports the Naval Academy’s Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan Imperative One, which is “to recruit, admit and graduate a diverse and talented Brigade of Midshipmen by providing an inclusive community and environment with a number of diversity events, trainings, and resources."

USNA’s Center for Teaching and Learning has several faculty resources including PowerPoint Presentations on topics such as “You Don’t Have to Go Far: Cross-Cultural Competence through Experiential Learning” and “How to Create an Anti-Racist Classroom: Developing and Implementing an Anti-Racist Pedagogy,” Video Presentations on “Teaching Race,” and books such as “How to Be an Anti-Racist” by Ibram X. Kendi and “White Fragility” by Robin DiAngelo.

The Superintendent of the United States Naval Academy explained that the academy's "Midshipman Diversity Team" is "developing a midshipman-led, comprehensive plan to identify midshipman-level shortfalls within our Naval Academy family with the goal of proposing a plan to resolve these issues of privilege, bias, and racial injustice."

As part of the Naval Academy's Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan, the academy will "develop a representative diversity and inclusion oversight office with a mixture of uniform and civilian personnel based on supported population" and "hire full-time civilian diversity and inclusion staff for continuity in areas of leadership, training, and data analytics."

One presentation given to the navy, titled "DEI 101," includes topics such as "DEI Basics," "What is identity?" "Intro to Bias," and "Understanding Systemic Disadvantages and Unnoticed Advantages."

The Department of the Navy announced its "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Planning Actions," which ask the Chief Diversity Officer of the Navy, Assistant Secretary of the Navy to "lead a Strategic Planning Team and develop an action plan to promote DEI in Department-wide policies, programs and operations." The department "will release findings and actions it intends to take to remove existing barriers and advance diversity, equity and inclusion throughout the Department."

The Washington Examiner reported, "Adm. Michael Gilday, chief of naval operations, previously released a 'professional reading program' reading list that included Ibram X. Kendi’s 'How to Be an Antiracist.'"

Breitbart News reported, "Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday released an updated recommended reading list for sailors on Friday, and books on critical race theory he had recommended last year are absent from the new list."

According to The Hill, Task Force One Navy's final report recommended "using artificial intelligence to reduce potential bias when selecting sailors for promotion."

Military.com reports that the Defense Department reversed a Trump administration action to "halt training on subjects including critical race theory and white privilege."

The academy's School of Social Sciences and Humanities "Strategic Plan 2030" states as follows: "Collaborate with the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) to support faculty development in pedagogical best practices for covering challenging topics in an environment that demonstrates inclusivity and respect for diverse opinions and perspectives."

The academy published a slide-presentation of Robin DiAngelo’s book "White Fragility" which summarizes "white privilege" and "white supremacy."

The academy published a document outlining its "Diversity Peer Educator Program" which supports "moral development at USNA by facilitating small group conversations that educate and inform midshipmen, faculty, and staff and foster a culture of inclusion across the Yard, resulting in cohesive teams ready to exert maximal performance and win the Naval service's battles."

In describing its curriculum, the academy's History Department states that midshipmen (students) "need to know about the emergence of modern democracy and the continuing appeal of authoritarian forms of government, the creation of an industrialized global economy, the rise, persistence, and fallacies of modern racism, and the causes and conduct of war."

One of the objectives of USNA's 2030 Strategic Plan is to "[i]dentify and address the traditions, policies, and practices at USNA that support systemic biases."

The Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership (within USNA) produces a podcast titled "Ethics and the Naval Warrior," which includes an episode on the topic of "Black Lives Matter."

The Center for Teaching and Learning includes a sample "diversity statement" for educators to include in their syllabi.

The 4th Annual Conference on Teaching and Learning included the keynotes "Hiring a diverse faculty," "What we learned from reading Robin DiAngelo’s White Fragility," and workshops on DEI topics.

The Dean's Reading List includes "Presumed Incompetent: The Intersections of Race and Class for Women in Academia."

The Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Awards consist of a couple of dozen awards which are bestowed annually based on many types of affinity groups.

The Superintendent of the United States Naval Academy said, "In short, diversity, equity, and inclusion are more vital than ever to our mission here at the Naval Academy of developing leaders to serve our Nation." The superintendent also announced, "Our Faculty Senate recently passed a resolution with overwhelming support to investigate and address any practices at the Naval Academy that perpetuate systemic racism."

According to The Hill, Task Force One Navy's final report recommended "that the Navy assess 'problematic names' for ships, buildings and streets."

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley defended the study of critical race theory in a June 2021 congressional hearing. Milley said, "So what is wrong with understanding, having some situational understanding about the country for which we are here to defend? And I personally find it offensive that we are accusing the United States military, our general officers, our commissioned, non-commissioned officers of being, quote, ‘woke’ or something else, because we're studying some theories that are out there."

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in June 2021, "We do not teach critical race theory, we don’t embrace critical race theory and I think that’s a spurious conversation...We are focused on extremist behaviors, and not ideology, not people’s thoughts, not people’s political orientation."

The academy's Calculus I Assistant Professor Justin Allman issued a "Course Policy Statement" which stated, "We all have implicit biases, and I will try to continually examine my judgments, words, and actions to treat everyone with the fairness and respect they deserve."

The English Department includes a Diversity Statement on its website that states it opposes "harassment or bullying of any sort, particularly that based on race, gender, gender identity, religion, national origin, geographic background, neurological makeup (neurodiversity), political and ideological perspectives, LGBTQ+ status, immigration status, social and economic status, veteran status, age or disability."

The USNA assembled the One Navy Task Force to address implicit bias and systematic racism in the ranks. The goal of the task force was to “analyze and evaluate issues in our society and military that detract from Navy readiness, such as racism, sexism and other structural and interpersonal biases.”

According to the State Journal-Register, "Admiral Gary Roughead, chief of Naval Operations, said that 'diversity is the No. 1 priority' at the academy."

The Aerospace Engineering Department has an "equity and inclusion" statement, which says "inclusion is a core value in [the] department."

The Department of Engagement, Retention, and Equal Opportunity's mission is to "support, foster, and leverage the unique and diverse talents of faculty, staff, and future Navy and Marine Corps officers through an inclusive Naval Academy campus and community environment free from discrimination or harassment of any kind."