High school students applying to the academies must be nominated by a member of Congress or another high-ranking federal official. Congressional nominations account for about 75 percent of all students at the academies.
Academy records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act show that lawmakers in roughly half of the 435 House districts nominated more than 100 students each during the five-year period.
But Representative Nydia Velazquez of New York City, a Democrat and chairwoman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, nominated only four students, the lowest among House members who served the entire five-year period. Democratic Representative Charles Rangel, whose New York City district includes Harlem, was second-lowest, with eight nominations. And House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose San Francisco district is 29 percent Asian, was also near the bottom, with 19.
In fact, the bottom 20 House members were all from districts where whites make up less than a majority.
“It’s beyond my imagination how someone that has the ability to nominate doesn’t do it,’’ Craig Duchossois said last December at his final meeting as chairman of the Naval Academy’s Board of Visitors.
He noted what an academy appointment means: a free four-year education and a guaranteed job as an officer for at least five years after graduation.
Velazquez, Rangel, and Pelosi would not comment or did not return calls.
Academy leaders and some on Capitol Hill do not put all the blame on the politicians, pointing out that some districts might have a shortage of qualified candidates, either because students have not gotten the necessary preparation from their struggling schools, are unaware of the opportunity, or are uninterested.
But while the burden is ultimately on students to apply, academy leaders and others said elected officials should be doing more to publicize the opportunity. The academies have approached dozens of members of the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to discuss attracting more minority students.
Also, the military recently put together a how-to booklet on minority recruiting and sent it to all congressional offices, said Charles Garcia, chairman of the Air Force Academy’s board of visitors.
