Group behind Harvard affirmative action case now targets military academy admissions.
The Fight for Fair Admissions: Taking on the Military Academies
The group that achieved a groundbreaking victory at the Supreme Court, striking down the consideration of race in college admissions, is now setting its sights on the U.S. military academies.
Fresh off their landmark win against Harvard and the University of North Carolina, Students for Fair Admissions has launched a captivating new website, calling on high school graduates who were denied admission to the United States Military Academy at West Point, the Naval Academy, or the Air Force Academy to join their cause.
Challenging the Status Quo
Edward Blum, the president of Students for Fair Admissions, explained in an interview with the Washington Examiner that while the court’s ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard addressed race in college admissions, it did not specifically address the military academies. Blum emphasized that the court’s brief footnote should not be seen as an endorsement of race-based admissions in this context.
“Footnote number four in the majority opinion, I see that as a statement of agnosticism, more than a kind of an exemption or carve out,” Blum said. “I think everyone recognizes that the service academies in the world of higher education are unique. But the court just said, ‘It’s not before us, hasn’t been briefed, we’re not going to touch it.'”
The footnote, part of Chief Justice Roberts’s majority opinion, reads, “No military academy is a party to these cases … and none of the courts below addressed the propriety of race-based admissions systems in that context. This opinion also does not address the issue, in light of the potentially distinct interests that military academies may present.”
The Elite Military Academies
The military academies, including West Point for the U.S. Army, the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, are renowned for their selectivity. These institutions, operated by the Department of Defense, offer tuition-free education in exchange for a minimum four-year military service commitment. Graduates of the academies are commissioned as officers in their respective branches.
The Biden administration, in an amicus brief filed before the court, argued that the military academies relied on prior court precedent in Grutter v. Bollinger, which allowed the consideration of race to ensure a diverse officer corps capable of leading an increasingly diverse fighting force.
Despite the Supreme Court’s agnostic stance on race-conscious admissions at the military academies, Blum hopes that they will voluntarily comply with the court’s ruling and refrain from using race as a factor in their admissions decisions.
“Students for Fair Admissions hopes that there will be some clarification from the service academies, in which they will state that they will comport with the Supreme Court’s opinion in Harvard and UNC … and not use race as a factor in their admissions process,” Blum told the Washington Examiner. “We hope that we don’t have to sue them. However, if that statement is not forthcoming, then Students for Fair Admissions is likely to bring a challenge to the service academies’ continued use of race and ethnicity.”
Blum invites anyone who has been denied admission to one of the academies to join Students for Fair Admissions. He acknowledges that under the Biden administration, the likelihood of the service academies changing their admissions practices is slim.
Click here to read more from the Washington Examiner.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the White House and Pentagon for comment.
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