FILE PHOTO: People attend the 2023 graduation ceremony at the United States Military Academy (USMA), at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York, United States, May 27, 2023. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
WASHINGTON 鈥� A group opposed to affirmative action on Friday asked the Supreme Court to block the US Military Academy at West Point from considering race as a factor in admissions decisions while a dispute over the practice proceeds in a lower court.
The request came from Students for Fair Admissions, the group behind a successful Supreme Court challenge to race-conscious collegiate admissions policies in cases involving Harvard University and the University of North Carolina.
West Point is a prestigious military service academy in the state of New York that educates cadets for commissioning into the US Army. Students for Fair Admissions said that West Point鈥檚 application deadline for the class of 2028 is January 31, and asked the Supreme Court to decide the request for an injunction by that time.
The US Justice Department in court filings has said that West Point is a 鈥渧ital pipeline to the officer corps鈥� and that its race-conscious admissions practices help the Army achieve its 鈥渕ission critical鈥� goal of having officers as diverse as its enlisted military personnel.
Edward Blum, president of Students for Fair Admissions, in a statement called race-conscious admissions 鈥渁ntithetical to our nation鈥檚 military institutions and mission.鈥�
鈥淚t is our hope that the Supreme Court will forbid West Point from using racial classifications and preferences in their admissions process for their incoming class going forward from today,鈥� Blum said.
READ: US Supreme Court rejects affirmative action in university admissions
His group鈥檚 Supreme Court filing came after a federal judge rejected its request for a preliminary injunction on January 3 and rebuffed its request for an emergency injunction the next day. The group appealed to the New York-based 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals, which has yet to rule on their request.
The group sued last September challenging West Point鈥檚 admissions process on behalf of two Students for Fair Admissions members 鈥� a high school student applying for the first time and a first-year college student applying for the second time. Both students 鈥渁re fully qualified but white,鈥� the group said.
The lawsuit said West Point鈥檚 admissions practices discriminated against white applicants and violated the principle of equal protection in the US Constitution.
In invalidating admissions policies at Harvard and UNC last year, the Supreme Court did not address race in admissions at military academies, which Chief Justice John Roberts in a footnote said had 鈥減otentially distinct interests.鈥�
READ: Filipino cadet graduates with nuclear engineering degree from US Military Academy
President Joe Biden鈥檚 administration, in defending the race-conscious admissions policies used by the US military academies, said that senior military leaders long have recognized that a scarcity of minority officers can create distrust within the armed forces.
Although Black people make up 20.2% of the Army鈥檚 active duty enlisted personnel, only 11% of officers are Black, the Justice Department said. Hispanic people constitute 18% of active personnel but only 9% of officers, the department said.
White people by contrast constitute 51.7% of the Army active duty enlisted corps and 68% of its officers, the Justice Department said.