The Supreme Court on Friday declined to temporarily block race-based admissions at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, paving the way for the school to continue considering race as a factor in selecting classes for admission in the fall. revealed.
The court's order denied a request for emergency relief from the conservative group Students for Fair Admissions, which has repeatedly challenged the consideration of race in higher education as the lawsuit progresses. West Point had asked the justices to act quickly, as it is poised to stop accepting applications on Wednesday.
The court said in its order that the records were “undeveloped.” The denial “should not be construed as expressing any view on the merits of the constitutional issue,” it added, suggesting the justices may consider the issue in the future. There were no notable objections.
Edward Blum, founder of Students for Fair Admissions, denounced the court's decision as a setback. “It is unfortunate that for the foreseeable future, young men and women applying to West Point will have their race used as a factor in whether or not they will be admitted,” he said in a statement.
The group successfully challenged race-based admissions at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina during the final term of the court, which universities across the country have relied on for decades to increase racial diversity. This effectively ended the policy.
Bloom appears to have tailored his challenge to focus on a group of institutions excluded from the ruling: military academies.
In June, the justices split 6-3 along ideological lines and declared the Harvard University and University of North Carolina admissions programs illegal.
In the majority opinion, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. limited the scope of the ruling by exempting military academies in a footnote.
The court's ruling did not apply to those institutions, which include West Point, the Naval Academy and the Air Force Academy, because they have “potentially disparate interests,” he wrote.
Less than three months after the decision was announced, Students for Fair Admissions filed a lawsuit against West Point, alleging that West Point's admissions practices violate the Constitution.
West Point touts the diversity of its student body on its website. The recently admitted class, scheduled to graduate in 2027, includes approximately 1,250 students. Approximately 38 percent are racial minorities, including 127 African Americans, 137 Hispanic Americans, 170 Asian Americans, and 18 Native Americans.
Student advocates for fair admissions argued that the government misinterpreted Chief Justice Roberts' footnote as an exception for military academies. In its petition for relief, the group said it was “far from a carve-out,” and that the court's decision to curb race-conscious admissions was the first step in the Supreme Court's decision to “examine how race is used.” He said that he did not target military academies simply because he did not know that.
The group argued that admissions to the nation's oldest military academy violated standards set in the Harvard case and was “worse than Harvard itself.”
The report said West Point practiced “unchecked racism” and gave racial preferential treatment to applicants from three groups: blacks, Hispanics, and Native Americans. The petition added that the school “uses race to determine which office reviews applications, the number of early offers, and the score an applicant must obtain.” .
Students for Fair Admissions told the court, “Each year, as this case stalls in discovery, trial, and appeal, West Point continues to label thousands more applicants based on their skin color. “This will require the court to take prompt action.''
In a prepared letter to the government, Attorney General Elizabeth B. Preloger said that West Point's current admissions process should be maintained and that, at the request of Students for Fair Admissions, the academy “They will be forced to abandon an admissions process that the Army deems unfair.” Military obligations have been imposed for generations. ”
The paper said Wednesday's deadline was arbitrary because West Point had been reviewing applications since August and had “already made offers to hundreds of candidates” for a significant portion of the slots for the Class of 2028. I explained that.
The brief added that racial diversity among military leaders is critical to national security.
“For more than 40 years, our nation's military leaders have believed that a diverse Army officer corps is a national security imperative, and that achieving that diversity requires that more people join the military as cadets at the U.S. Military Academy. at West Point,” Preloger wrote.
“A lack of diversity in leadership could jeopardize the Army's ability to win wars,” she added, adding, “The lack of diversity in leadership could jeopardize the ability of the Army to win wars,” adding, “It erupted like that,” he said.
The Biden administration mentioned military academies last term when it submitted briefs supporting Harvard University and the University of North Carolina. The government said white service members make up 53 percent of all active-duty military personnel, but 73 percent of officers, while black service members make up 18 percent of active-duty service members and 8 percent of officers. Approximately one in five officers is from one of the military academies.
Anemona heartcolis Contributed to the report.
