A federal judge on Friday upheld the U.S. Naval Academy's consideration of an applicant's race in its admissions policy, distinguishing the military's national security mission from civilian universities, where such policies favoring race admissions policies are unconstitutional.

"Over many years, military and civilian leaders have determined that a racially diverse officer corps is a national security interest," U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett of the District of Maryland wrote. "This is fundamentally a military personnel issue."