US Naval Academy to Advocate for Race-Conscious Admissions Policies in Trial

September 17 :
On September 16, the United States Naval Academy will be trialed by the same group that successfully lobbied the United States Supreme Court to outlaw racial considerations in college admissions. Their goal is to eliminate a loophole that permits military institutions to continue using affirmative action programs.

Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA), an organization formed by Edward Blum, an opponent of affirmative action, sued the school in Annapolis, Maryland, last year. A federal judge in Baltimore is now hearing a nonjury trial arising from that lawsuit. The conservative majority of the United States Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in favor of his group in June 2023, prohibiting practices that universities and colleges have employed for decades to attract more Black, Hispanic, and other minority students to American campuses. His group plans to capitalize on this victory.

The decision nullified SFFA's claims of discrimination against Harvard and UNC, whose admissions practices were found to be race-conscious. However, conservative Chief Justice John Roberts stated that military academies had "potentially distinct" interests regarding the use of race as an admissions criterion, and the decision specifically did not address this.

According to Blum's organization, the military academies in question have discriminatory policies that run counter to the Fifth Amendment's guarantee of equal treatment under the law. As a result, they are requesting that the Supreme Court's decision be extended to them.

It is currently suing the United States Military Academy at West Point in New York state in an effort to terminate the exception, one of two cases it has filed in this regard. To ensure a more diversified fighting force in the future, the government of Democratic President Joe Biden has maintained that the military has a valid reason to take race into account when admitting new members.

located in Baltimore Judge Richard Bennett, a Republican appointee of George W. Bush and a veteran of more than 20 years in the Maryland National Guard and the United States Army Reserve, will oversee the trial. He denied SFFA's pretrial motion to prohibit the Naval Academy from taking race into account during a hearing in December.