Trump Admin Settles Lawsuits Over Race-Based Admissions at Military Academies

The Justice Department said on Aug. 12 that it was settling lawsuits over race-based admissions policies at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and the Air Force Academy.

According to a statement, the settlement includes provisions to ensure that admissions to both the Air Force Academy and West Point be “exclusively on merit, not race or ethnicity.” Attorney General Pam Bondi said her department was working with the Department of Defense to “permanently end race-based admissions” at the service academies.

“This Department is committed to eliminating DEI practices throughout the federal government,” she said, referring to the acronym for diversity, equity, and inclusion.

U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton for the Southern District of New York said the “agreement ensures that our future military leaders will carry on the greatness that is born of opportunity, effort, and a level playing field.”

In a court document submitted on Aug. 12, attorneys said both sides “stipulate to the dismissal of this case with prejudice.”

The West Point case was one of several making its way through the court system and was settled after a resolution that involved the United States Naval Academy in June.

The Supreme Court temporarily allowed West Point to continue considering race in admissions, with a decision last February that didn’t rule on the merits of the arguments.

“The record before this Court is underdeveloped, and this order should not be construed as expressing any view on the merits of the constitutional question,” the court said at the time.

U.S. District Judge Philip Halpern refused in January to block West Point’s consideration of race in admissions. Like the Supreme Court, he also indicated that the facts in the case were underdeveloped.

“A full factual record is vital to answering this critical question whether the use of race in the admissions process at West Point furthers compelling governmental interests and whether the government’s use of race is narrowly tailored to achieve that interest,” he said.

Students for Fair Admissions had sued West Point in 2023 and was part of the case that led to the Supreme Court’s decision on affirmative action the same year. In that case, known as Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, the Supreme Court said that both Harvard and the University of North Carolina violated the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause with their considerations of race in the admissions process.

Chief Justice John Roberts’s majority opinion included a footnote that clarified he wasn’t addressing military academies “in light of the potentially distinct interests” they may present.

After a lower court refused to block West Point’s practices, Students for Fair Admission asked the Supreme Court to intervene. It argued that West Point’s practices conflicted with the Supreme Court’s decision in the Harvard case.

In response, the Biden administration said diversity in the armed forces is necessary.

“The Nation’s military leaders have long concluded that a diverse officer corps is necessary for an effective fighting force … And the Army has also determined that limited consideration of race in West Point’s admissions is, at present, necessary to achieve that diversity,” the administration said in a brief to the court.

The settlement came as President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at enhancing transparency in college admissions.

His order directed the Secretary of Education to update and revise the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, which is part of the National Center for Education Statistics and gathers information on colleges that participate in federal student financial aid programs.

“Greater transparency is essential to exposing unlawful practices and ultimately ridding society of shameful, dangerous racial hierarchies,” he said on Aug. 5.