Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a memo Friday barring military academies from considering race, sex, or ethnicity in their admissions process.
The memo directs the secretaries of all the military departments to implement “merit-based” criteria for the 2026 admissions cycle, striking all criteria that consider the aforementioned identity categories. The memo would bring the academies in line with President Donald Trump’s Jan. 27 executive order banning all diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the military.
The order also directed Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Jay Hurst to ensure compliance from all military academies. In January, Hegseth issued a memo to the Pentagon to begin the process of instituting “color-blind” admissions at the academies.