Anti-Affirmative Action Group Is Suing Naval Academy

An anti-affirmative action group has followed up its federal lawsuit against West Point with one against the US Naval Academy, seeking to block it from considering race in the selection on the new class of cadets. Students for Fair Admissions, founded by 72-year-old conservative activist Edward Blum, won a huge victory when the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action at colleges in June, but the ruling allowed military service academies to continue considering race in admissions, the Washington Post reports.

"The Naval Academy has no legal justification for treating midshipman applicants differently by race and ethnicity," Blum said in a statement, per Reuters. In the Supreme Court case, US Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar argued that it is a "critical national security imperative to attain diversity within the officer corps," and "at present, it's not possible to achieve that diversity without race-conscious admissions, including at the nation's service academies." A Naval Academy spokesperson said it is academy policy "to not comment on any pending litigation," Axios reports. Students for Fair Admissions has also been seeking possible plaintiffs for a case against the Air Force Academy, reports the New York Times. (More US Naval Academy stories.)