United States Military Academy at West Point
The agreement, approved at the highest levels of the Department of Defense, establishes four key requirements for both academies: applying no consideration of race or ethnicity in admissions decisions, maintaining no race-based goals or quotas, shielding race and ethnicity information from admissions personnel, and training staff to adhere to merit-only standards.
The policies will take effect immediately and apply to all future admissions cycles, according to the settlement terms.
The settlement represents a significant policy reversal from the Biden administration's previous position defending race-conscious admissions at military service academies. Earlier this year, under President Trump's Executive Order 14185, the Department of Defense determined that race-based admissions at military academies are not justified by military necessity and do not advance national security, cohesion, or readiness.
The Department formally abandoned its earlier position that a "compelling national security interest in a diverse officer corps" justified race-based policies, marking a sharp departure from decades of military diversity initiatives.
The agreement follows SFFA's earlier litigation against the U.S. Naval Academy, where the organization successfully challenged similar race-conscious admissions practices.
Under the settlement terms, litigation against West Point and the Air Force Academy will be dismissed with prejudice, with each side bearing its own legal costs. The agreement preserves SFFA's right to challenge any future changes to these policies.
