A lawsuit has been filed by the national advocacy group Students for Fair Admissions against the U.S. Air Force Academy, claiming that the school’s use of race in admissions is unconstitutional. The complaint was filed in U.S. District Court in the District of Colorado this week.
Students for Fair Admissions previously won a similar case against Harvard College in 2023 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against affirmative action in college admissions. The new lawsuit comes shortly after a federal judge in Maryland rejected the organization’s attempt to prevent the U.S. Naval Academy from considering race in admissions.
In the complaint filed against the U.S. Air Force Academy, located north of Colorado Springs, the group is seeking a court order to declare the academy’s use of race in admissions as unconstitutional. They are also asking for officials to stop considering applicants’ race in admissions decisions.
The lawsuit names the U.S. Department of Defense, top military, and government officials, alleging that the Air Force Academy is one of the few universities that still explicitly considers race in admissions, violating the Fifth Amendment.
Attorneys for Students for Fair Admissions argue that the Fifth Amendment’s equal-protection principle should apply to the federal government in the same way the 14th Amendment’s equal-protection clause applies to the states.
The complaint states that the group has a high school student member who is ready to apply to the academy and may be negatively impacted by the admissions policy due to their race. The group believes that continuing to make admissions decisions based on race will harm their members by denying them equal opportunity to compete for an Air Force appointment.
Preliminary scheduling hearings for the case are set to begin in January.
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