Anti-Affirmative Action Group Sues West Point Over Admissions Policy

The Supreme Court ruling barring race-conscious admissions at civilian colleges should apply to the U.S. Military Academy as well, the lawsuit argues.

The group that won a major Supreme Court victory against affirmative action in June sued the U.S. Military Academy at West Point on Tuesday, arguing that the courts ruling barring race-conscious college admissions should extend to the nations military academies as well.

The group, Students for Fair Admissions, was the driving force behind the lawsuit that led the Supreme Court to strike down race-conscious admissions at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina, a decision that has roiled admissions programs at colleges and universities across the country.

But the court specifically excluded the military academies, including West Point, the Naval Academy and the Air Force Academy, from its decision that affirmative action in college admissions could not be reconciled with the Constitutions equal protection guarantees. In a footnote to the majority opinion, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote that the court was not ruling one way or the other on the academies, because of the potentially distinct interests that military academies may present.