Tag: Students for Fair Admissions

Federal Judge Says West Point Can Continue Using Race in Admissions

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West Point

A federal judge allowed the U.S. Military Academy at West Point on Wednesday to continue considering race as a factor in its admissions process.

Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA), the same group whose lawsuits against Harvard University and the University of North Carolina prompted the Supreme Court to overturn affirmative action in June, sued West Point in September. U.S. District Judge Philip Halpern, a Trump appointee, declined to issue a preliminary injunction blocking the military school’s use of race, noting in his 27-page ruling that it is currently “mid-admissions cycle.”

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Judge Declines to Block Race-Based Admissions at U.S. Naval Academy

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Naval Academy

A federal judge ruled Thursday against an injunction that would have temporarily halted the Naval Academy’s race-based admissions policies, according to Reuters.

Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) filed a lawsuit against West Point in September and launched a second against the Naval Academy in October after winning two cases involving Harvard University and the University of North Carolina on the same issue at the Supreme Court in June. U.S. District Judge Richard Bennett, however, ruled against SFFA’s request for an injunction, claiming that he felt the group had not proven the military’s use of race-based admissions for its academies was discriminatory, according to Reuters.

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West Point Sued over Race-Based Admissions Process

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On Tuesday, an anti-affirmative action group filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Military Academy at West Point over its race-based admissions process in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision overturning such practices.

As reported by Axios, the lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York by Students for Fair Admissions (SFA), the same advocacy group that ultimately ended affirmative action through two cases it had filed before the Supreme Court, Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina. In both cases, SFA successfully argued that affirmative action unfairly benefits black and Hispanic students, while disproportionately discriminating against White and Asian students.

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Group Drops Anti-Affirmative Action Lawsuit Against Yale After Compromise

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The group responsible for the nationwide overturning of affirmative action has dropped its lawsuit challenging the race-based admissions policies of Yale University.

According to Politico, Students for Fair Admissions (SFA) came to an agreement with the Ivy League school in which they would voluntarily drop their lawsuit, in exchange for Yale making several changes to its admissions policies prior to the Fall 2023 undergraduate application season.

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Watchdog Group Reports on Ohio State University College of Medicine ‘Anti-Racism’ DEI Practices Post-Supreme Court Decision

Susan Berry, PhD

A comprehensive report by an organization that seeks to protect health care from discriminatory ideology has published a report that finds Ohio State University (OSU) College of Medicine is steeped in teaching medicine through the lens of the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) agenda, and notes the school will need to examine its admissions processes to align with the Supreme Court’s recent affirmative action ruling.

The report, by Do No Harm, is released in the wake of the Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, which struck down affirmative action policies in school admissions.

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Constitutional Law Center Urges over 150 Medical Schools to End Race-Based Admissions Following Supreme Court Decision

Susan Berry, PhD

A nonprofit law center whose mission is to defend the constitutional rights of Americans has sent a letter to more than 150 medical schools throughout the country, calling upon them to end their race-based admissions policies in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling that struck down affirmative action.

Liberty Justice Center, which won a major victory for First Amendment rights in June 2018 after the Supreme Court ruled in Janus v. AFSCME that non-union government workers cannot be required to pay union fees as a condition of working in public service, has now announced efforts to inform the schools of their “legal obligation to end race-based admissions policies” in response to the Court’s recent ruling in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College. 

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Constitutional Experts Welcome Supreme Court’s Takedown of Affirmative Action but Warn of Universities’ Attempts at ‘Workarounds’

Susan Berry, PhD

Many of those who are applauding the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision Thursday that struck down affirmative action are also warning that universities that have been steeped for decades in “equity” and “diversity” ideology are not likely to go quietly.

“My elation regarding the opinion’s vindication of the rule of law and  rejection of racial discrimination is tempered somewhat by the fact that the Left began preparing for this result a couple of years ago by abandoning objective admissions measures such as the SAT, etc., Peter Kirsanow, a member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, said in comments to The Star News Network following the Court’s decision in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College.

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Biden Education Secretary Claims Supreme Court’s Affirmative Action Ruling ‘Takes Our Country Decades Backward’

Susan Berry, PhD

Secretary of the U.S. Education Department Miguel Cardona reacted to the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the use of race in weighing college admissions with the claim the ruling “takes our country decades backward” because such discrimination based on the color of skin has served as “a vital tool that colleges have used to create vibrant, diverse campus communities.”

Cardona said in a press statement the Court’s 6-3 ruling Thursday in Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College is “yet another blow to the fight for equal opportunity.”

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Vanderbilt University Chair Says Supreme Court Ban on Race-Based College Admissions Would Hold Back Minorities from Leadership, ‘Influential’ Employment

Corinne Murdock
Vanderbilt University

A Vanderbilt University chair said that race-based admissions would prevent minorities from attaining leadership positions and “influential” employment. Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair Professor of Law and Economic Joni Hersch made this assessment in a legal studies research paper, “Affirmative Action and the Leadership Pipeline.” The paper is expected to appear in Tulane Law Review soon.

Hersch wrote the article in response to the ongoing court case, Students for Fair Admissions (SSFA) v. Harvard. In the lawsuit, SSFA alleges that Harvard University discriminates against Asian applicants in its admissions process by engaging in racial balancing.

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North Carolina’s Flagship Public University Under Legal Fire for Overly Race-Based Admissions

A.P. Dillon

North Carolina’s flagship public university is under legal fire for the allegedly over-use of race-based admissions policies. Specifically, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is being accused of over-selecting minorities in their admissions and related policies. Students For Fair Admissions (SFFA), a non-profit based in Virginia, filed a motion for summary judgment against UNC-Chapel Hill in January. “UNC’s use of race is the opposite of individualized; UNC uses race mechanically to ensure the admission of the vast majority of underrepresented minorities,” says the SFFA motion. UNC-Chapel Hill responded to the motion in their own brief, stating that the school has a “longstanding commitment to diversity.” “In its academic judgment, the university has determined that pursuing the educational benefits of diversity is integral to fulfilling its mission to prepare the next generation of leaders,” said UNC-Chapel Hill’s response. In addition to filing suit, a dedicated website called uncnotfair.org has been set up by SFFA.  “Were You Denied Admission to the University of North Carolina? It may be because you’re the wrong race,” the website’s front page reads. SFFA’s plaintiff is an unnamed white male from North Carolina who applied for and was denied admission for the Fall of 2014.…

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Parents Sue Over De Blasio’s Plan to Diversify NYC’s Elite Schools

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by Neetu Chandak   Asian-American parents and civil rights groups filed a lawsuit against New York City officials Thursday over a plan that would increase admissions for black and Hispanic students to elite schools in the city. Black and Hispanic students make up 68 percent of the city’s population with 9 percent receiving offers to attend specialized high schools. Asian-American students, however, make up 62 percent of the population at the city’s elite high schools, The Washington Post reported Thursday. The plan promoted by Mayor Bill de Blasio would set aside 20 percent of seats at each of the elite high schools for students coming from low socioeconomic backgrounds, according to WaPo. Gaining admission into the specialized high schools is determined by a single test known as the Specialized High Schools Admissions Test (SHSAT), a Department of Education (DOE) spokesperson told The Daily Caller News Foundation. De Blasio announced the Discovery Program’s expansion in June, which offers free tutoring to those who missed the cutoff for admissions and a second chance at being accepted, The Wall Street Journal reported. “It unlawfully restricts equal access of tens of thousands of poor Asian-American children living outside high-poverty school districts to Specialized High…

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