West Point Defends Admission Policy Amid Affirmative Action Test

The United States Military Academy at West Point opposed an advocacy group’s motion to block the school from using affirmative action, arguing that diversity goals are necessary for the operations of the armed forces.

The anti-affirmative action group that filed the suit in September hasn’t shown that its members would suffer irreparable harm without an injunction, the academy said Wednesday in US District Court for the Southern District of New York. West Point’s admissions policies also serve a “compelling national security interest,” the school and its leadership said in the filing, citing the distinction between a military academy that trains cadets for battle and a civilian university.

Students for Fair Admissions got a favorable Supreme Court ruling in June that race-conscious admissions in universities violated the Equal Protection Clause, but the justices didn’t rule on whether the same was true for military academies.

“Any alleged burden on the constitutional rights of plaintiff’s members is far outweighed by the burden that would be created by an order from this court requiring West Point to apply a different admissions policy in the middle of its admissions cycle, and countermanding the strategic judgment of the nation’s military leaders on what national security requires,” US Attorney Damian Williamssaid on behalf of West Point, US Department of Defense, as well as military officials who oversee the academy, also named as defendants.

West Point trains battlefield leaders who must establish a cohesive rapport with subordinates and lead an increasingly diverse Army in an increasingly diverse nation, and senior officials have made the judgment that diversity is “integral to ensuring national security,” according to the opposition filing.

The academy considers race flexibly as a “plus” factor only at limited points in the admissions process, in the context of an individualized and holistic consideration of each candidate, but never uses it as a negative factor, a means of stereotyping, or a way to meet a quota, the filing says.

Military Academy, Not Civilian University

Unlike other university applicants, a candidate seeking admission to West Point must also secure a nomination from either a member of Congress or a service-connected nomination, which only applies to children of certain service members and candidates who are already enlisted in the Army or an ROTC program.

Nominations from Congress members and delegates, as well as the Vice President and Governor and Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico, make up 75% of West Point’s cadet corps, and West Point has no authority over which candidates are nominated, according to the opposition memorandum. Once nominated, the candidates are selected based on a “whole candidate score” that factors in academic qualifications, leadership, and fitness, but not race or ethnicity.

The academy’s limited consideration of race and ethnicity for African American, Hispanic, and Native American candidates enters the process at three stages of the admissions process. If the school’s diversity outreach office determines that a candidate from one of those backgrounds is qualified but hasn’t received a nomination, that office may recommend that the admissions director recommend the candidate for a nomination from the superintendent, of which only 50 can be granted per year.

West Point may also consider race and ethnicity if the academy has not reached its class size by the end of an admissions cycle before extending offers to additional appointees, the filing says.

Students for Fair Admissions doesn’t meet the burden for a preliminary injunction, since the court has no way to know if race would play a role in West Point’s consideration of its members’ applications, the group fails to show that two anonymous White members of the group would suffer irreparable harm without the injunction, according to the filing.

The opposition brief also cites the military’s national security interest in a diverse officer corps, and the insufficiency of race-neutral alternatives as reasons the case wouldn’t succeed on the merits.

A hearing on the preliminary injunction is scheduled for Dec. 21.

West Point didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Consovoy McCarthy PLLC, which represents the plaintiff, didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

The case is Students for Fair Admissions v. US Military Acad. at West Point, S.D.N.Y., No. 7:23-cv-08262, 11/22/23.