According to an article recently published in USA Today, members of Congress representing large city districts with large populations of minorities are not appointing proportionate numbers of minorities to military academies. In fact, the article states that the Associate Press conducted a review of appointment records from the past five years and found that lawmakers from areas such as Los Angeles and New York, which feature areas that are heavily populated by minorities, actually rank near the bottom in terms of the number of minority appointments made to naval academies such as the U.S. Air Force Academy, the U.S. Naval Academy and West Point.

Ironically, the USA Today article reports that military academies are making a concentrated effort to recruit more minorities, so the fact that members of Congress are not lending there support is quite counterproductive to their efforts. This is because Congressional nominations represent about 75% of those students who attend these academies, as high school students who are interested in applying to the academies must first be nominated by a member of Congress or some other high-ranking federal official.

According to the Academy records that were obtained by the Associated Press, lawmakers in nearly half of the 435 House districts have nominated over 100 students over the past five years. Rep. Nydia Velazquez from New York City, who is also the chairwoman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucas, on the other hand, has only nominated our students. As such, she represents the lowest number of represented students among House members. New York City’s Rep.

Charles Rangel, whose district includes Harlem, has only provided eight nominations – making his nominations the second lowest in the House. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who represents a San Francisco district that is comprised of a population that is 29% Asian, is also near the bottom with 19 nominations. When all is said and done, the Associated Press found that the bottom 20 House members represented districts where there are less whites than there are minority groups.

“It’s beyond my imagination how someone that has the ability to nominate doesn’t do it,” said Craig Duchossois last December at a meeting of the Naval Academy’s Board of Visitors.

Not only are academies looking to increase their minority enrollment, but there are several benefits that come with an appointment. First, those who are appointed enjoy a free four-year education. Further, they are guaranteed to have a job as an officer for a minimum of five years after they graduate. So, the clear-cut question becomes why are Congressmen and women failing to nominate minorities from within their districts.

While some are quick to point fingers at politicians, others say there may be other reasons for the shortage of nominations. For example, some of the districts may not have enough qualified candidates to nominate to the academies This may be because the students are simply unaware of the opportunity, or it may be because they are not interested in joining the academy or they lack the necessary academic preparation to attend an academy.

The reality is that our current system places the burden upon the student to apply for the academy. While no one argues that the students need to make an effort to take advantage of the opportunity to join an academy, leaders from within the academies and other critics maintain that elected officials are not doing enough to make the opportunity known. As such, the academies have approached many members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus as well as the Congressional Black Caucus in an effort to work together in order to attract more minority students to the academies. Furthermore, the military has created a how-to booklet that focuses on minority recruiting, which has been sent to all of the congressional offices. Furthermore, the Air Force Academy has started to bring congressional staff members fro districts with low minority nominations to its facilities in order to provide them with lessons on recruiting.

Some aren’t so certain that the low number of nominations are always related to a lack of recruiting knowledge, however, as some of the lawmakers who have the fewest number of nominations are also among the loudest critics of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Still, making an concentrated effort to recruit potential nominees is the key to getting more minorities in the academies. Rep. Elijah Cummings of Baltimore, for example, nominated 128 students over the last five years from his district, which is 64% black, This is largely due to the fact that his staff make presentations each spring at the schools within his districts explaining how to apply and qualify for an academy nomination. Furthermore, Cummings has staff members who are responsible for answering questions that applicants may have throughout the process.

“There is an openness and a willingness to reach out and help in Cummings’ staff that you don’t see in the others,” said Air Force Maj. Roger Gauret, an instructor in Baltimore Polytechnic Institute’s junior ROTC program. “They work it and they make it happen.”