The group that successfully convinced the U.S. Supreme Court to bar the consideration of race in college admissions is set to take the U.S. Naval Academy to trial on Monday in a challenge to an exemption that has allowed military academies to continue to employ affirmative action policies.
The two-week trial before a federal judge in Baltimore is the first to result from a pair of lawsuits filed last year against the Annapolis, Maryland-based school and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point by Students for Fair Admissions, a group founded by affirmative action foe Edward Blum.
His group is attempting to build on its June 2023 victory at the U.S. Supreme Court, when the court’s 6-3 conservative majority banned policies used by colleges and universities for decades to increase the number of Black, Hispanic and other minority students on American campuses.
That ruling invalidated race-conscious admissions policies used by Harvard and the University of North Carolina, both of which have recently reported a decline in enrollment by Black students following the decision.
UNC also saw a drop off in Hispanic enrollment.
The overall impact of the decision is still not fully clear with data still coming in, and some schools have reported little change in their Black and Hispanic student populations.
