WASHINGTON, D.C.: The U.S. Military Academy and the U.S. Air Force Academy will no longer use race when deciding who gets in. For many years, these schools considered race in order to help boost the enrollment of Black, Hispanic, and other minority students. This change was announced by President Donald Trump's administration late last week.
The decision was explained in court documents filed by the U.S. Department of Justice in New York and Colorado. The documents are connected to two lawsuits brought by Students for Fair Admissions. This group, founded by Edward Blum—an opponent of affirmative action—had already won a case at the U.S. Supreme Court that banned race-based admissions at some civilian universities. In that case, the Supreme Court voted 6-3 to stop schools like Harvard and the University of North Carolina from considering race when admitting students.
However, the Supreme Court ruling did not affect military schools because, as Chief Justice John Roberts noted, they have "potentially distinct interests." This led Blum's group to file new lawsuits aimed at changing the admissions practices at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York; the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado; and the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. At West Point, cadets train to become Army officers, and at the Air Force Academy, they prepare to serve as officers in the U.S. Air Force or the U.S. Space Force.
Before these changes, the Biden administration had defended the use of race in admissions. They argued that military leaders were aware that having too few minority officers could lead to distrust within the armed forces. Courts had previously agreed with this view and allowed the U.S. Naval Academy and the U.S. Military Academy to include race in their admissions process. Notably, Students for Fair Admissions only filed a suit against the Air Force Academy after President Trump won the November election.
On January 27, President Trump signed an executive order that ended diversity, equity, and inclusion practices in the military. According to a filing in New York, the U.S. Military Academy has followed this order and now does not consider race or ethnicity when admitting new students. In a separate filing from Colorado, the Justice Department referred to a memo from a high-ranking U.S. Air Force official dated February 6. The memo stated that the Air Force Academy had stopped using targets or goals for admissions based on sex, race, or ethnicity.
The Justice Department mentioned that because the Air Force Academy no longer factors in race, ethnicity, or sex during admissions, the lawsuit from Students for Fair Admissions might no longer be necessary. Earlier, the U.S. Naval Academy had also stopped considering race as part of its admissions process.
Edward Blum, the founder of Students for Fair Admissions, did not immediately comment on these changes.
