{"id":75678,"date":"2024-01-08T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-08T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2024\/01\/08\/west-point-and-the-naval-academy-can-keep-affirmative-action-for-now\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T15:38:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T15:38:37","slug":"west-point-and-the-naval-academy-can-keep-affirmative-action-for-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2024\/01\/08\/west-point-and-the-naval-academy-can-keep-affirmative-action-for-now\/","title":{"rendered":"West Point and the Naval Academy can keep affirmative action \u2014 for now"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Two federal judges recently rejected legal attempts to halt affirmative action in the military\u2019s service academies, at least for now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The anti-affirmative-action group Students for Fair Admissions filed lawsuits<\/a> this fall seeking to end the use of race in admissions at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, and the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students for Fair Admissions asked the two judges assigned to the lawsuits to ban affirmative action in the institutions immediately, before the cases went to trial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the judges put off making a decision on the contentious issue of affirmative action<\/a> in the service academies, instead opting to let the lawsuits run their course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To answer whether the use of race in admissions at West Point was constitutional, Judge Philip Halpern of the Southern District of New York wrote in his opinion Wednesday that he would need to see the \u201cfull factual record,\u201d rather than just the early filings in the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

West Point educates future Army officers, while the Naval Academy is for future Navy and Marine officers. Pentagon data from recent years has shown that, overall, civilian universities\u2019 ROTC programs are the leading source<\/a> of officers\u2019 commissions.<\/p>\n\n\n\t