West Point can continue considering race in admissions, judge says

A federal judge ruled on Wednesday that the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, N.Y. can continue to consider race as part of its admissions criteria for the time being.

U.S. district judge Philip M. Halpern denied the petition for preliminary injunction filed by Students for Fair Admissions. The petition would have prevented the prestigious training school for future Army officers to consider an applicant’s racial background when making admissions decision. The group was behind the lawsuits which led to the Supreme Court rejecting race-based affirmative actions in college admissions in June. However, the military service academies weren’t included in this decision.

Halpern wrote in his opinion on Wednesday that a full record of facts is necessary to answer the question of whether race is used in West Point’s admissions process to further compelling government interests, and whether that use is narrowly tailored in order to achieve this interest. He added that an injunction could cause major disruptions at the school.

Halpern stated that West Point was in the middle its admissions cycle and that the injunction would start this winter and require that the current admissions policies be changed, replace and “applied midway to the existing applicant pool.”

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Halpern stated that the result could affect not only students who have applied or are applying but also those West Point has already offered appointments.

Students for Fair Admissions led by Edward Blum, an opponent of affirmative action, argued in September that West Point’s admissions policies discriminated against Whites and were unconstitutional according to the Fifth Amendment.

Blum, in an email sent Wednesday evening, said that the group was “reviewing” the opinion. It will then take the next steps necessary to end the unconstitutional and unfair racial preference at West Point.

The group has filed a similar lawsuit in Maryland against U.S. The Naval Academy at Annapolis hosted a conference in October. Maryland’s judge rejected an injunction request as well.

Both lawsuits seek to build upon the group’s Supreme Court victory in June. The high court struck out race-conscious admissions at Harvard University, and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. This ruling reverberated across the nation’s colleges campuses.

A footnote to the Supreme Court’s ruling states that the military academies weren’t parties to the lawsuits brought against Harvard and UNC, and that the courts haven’t addressed the “propriety of race-based admissions in this context.”

The footnote stated that “this opinion does not also address the issue in light of potential distinct interests that military academy may present.”

The Washington Post reported that leaders at West Point had previously stated that their admissions procedure is holistic, and takes into consideration many factors, including academic credentials and potential for leadership.

West Point directed questions to the Justice Department. Terrence Clark, the department’s spokesman, declined to make any comments.