In a lawsuit filed in federal court in White Plains, the group Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) is seeking to force the United States Military Academy at West Point to stop using race and ethnicity as factors in deciding which cadets to admit.
SFFA alleges that by actively seeking a diverse student body West Point is violating the Constitution’s Fifth Amendment regarding equal protection. It wants the court to issue a declaratory judgment that West Point’s use of race in admissions is unconstitutional, issue a preliminary injunction prohibiting West Point from considering or knowing an applicant’s race when making admissions decisions and also issue a permanent injunction prohibiting West Point from considering an applicant’s race when making admissions decisions. SFAA also seeks attorney fees and costs along with any other relief to which the court decides it is entitled.
SFFA was successful in getting the U.S. Supreme Court to rule against admissions policies of Harvard and the University of North Carolina in a recent case.
Edward Blum, president of SFFA, said, “Because the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent opinion in the SFFA cases expressly forbids all institutions of higher education from using race in admissions decisions, it must follow that the U. S. military higher education institutions must end their race-based policies as well.
In its lawsuit, SFFA alleges that West Point goes to great lengths to meet racial and ethnic goals in selecting cadets for its incoming classes.
“West Point broadly claims that the diversity produced by racial preferences makes Army units ‘more effective at accomplishing their missions,'” the lawsuit says. “It does not define what it means to be racially ‘diverse,’ nor does it provide concrete evidence that military units that choose their members based on race are more successful on the battlefield than units who select their members based on objective measures of tactical competency, regardless of skin color.”
The lawsuit also alleges that West Point’s use of race in admissions is unconstitutional because it doesn’t have a logical end point.
“Under its theory of ‘racial diversity,’ it would be impossible for the Academy to stop considering race,” the lawsuit says. “By tying its racial enrollment needs to the ever-shifting demographics of the country and the enlisted ranks, West Point is essentially promising to use race in perpetuity.”
