We are all equal again, right?

[SunsetBengal]

(07-07-2023, 07:41 PM)Lucidus Wrote: As pointed out by a group of 35 former military leaders in a friend-of-the-court brief --

"Diversity in the halls of academia directly affects performance in the theaters of war. In Grutter v. Bollinger (“Grutter”), 539 U.S. 306 (2003), Fisher v. Univ. of Tex. at Austin (“Fisher I”), 570 U.S. 297 (2013), and Fisher v. Univ. of Tex. at Austin (“Fisher II”), 579 U.S. 365 (2016), this Court adjudicated the constitutionality of colleges and universities considering racial diversity as one of many factors in admissions practices. These cases remain of great interest to Amici because of their potential impact on the military’s ability to cultivate a diverse, highly qualified officer corps. That ability hinges, in turn, on the military’s continuing admission of diverse student bodies into its service academies and continuing recruitment of diverse students into Reserve Officer Training Corps (“ROTC”) programs at civilian universities nationwide, such as Harvard College (“Harvard”) and the University of North Carolina (“UNC”). "

"Prohibiting educational institutions from using modest, race-conscious admissions policies would impair the military’s ability to maintain diverse leadership, and thereby seriously undermine its institutional legitimacy and operational effectiveness. Amici respectfully request that, in considering whether to reverse decades of precedent affirming the constitutionality of such admissions policies, the Court will continue to consider how such policies enable the military to serve our Nation’s security interests."

One of the co-signers and former undersecretary of the Army, Joe Reeder stated --

"No one asked for a military academy carveout," said Reeder, who now practices private law at Greenberg Traurig. "We didn't ask for that. No one has asked for that. Only about 25% of the military's officer corps attended military academies." Reeder said. 

These former military leaders argued that the importance of racially diverse admission practices should apply to all academia, and also explained how the military is impacted and made stronger by such inclusionary methods. 

Not sure if factual, but the vast majority of ROTC students only go that route with no intention of ever going full time military service.  It is just a vessel to escape the strangle of student loan debt. (and it adds a nice little second income for civilian life while being reserve)