Federal Lawsuits Against Valley Forge Military Academy Dismissed

PHILADELPHIA, PA —A federal judge dismissed three lawsuits accusing Valley Forge Military Academy and College of violating the rights of three Black cadets, according to an order available Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge Nitza I. Quinones Alejandro dismissed the lawsuits and ruled that the lawsuits do not meet the criteria for receiving relief because Valley Forge is a private school.

Legal guardians and parents of three Black cadets filed lawsuits in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in August 2021, alleging that their sons’ civil rights were violated under the 14th Amendment.

The guardians and parents claimed that the school did not respond to reports that their sons were abused by other cadets because they were Black.

VFMA is an all boys private school for cadets in grades 6 to 12 that also offers a two-year coed college program on Eagle Road in the Wayne section of Radnor Township.

Robert T. Vance, a Philadelphia lawyer representing the plaintiffs, argued that the school was receiving federal funds.

The judge ruled that military training is not a state function and does not fall under the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, which requires that states do not deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law.

George Randolph, an Exton lawyer representing the school, said that case did not fit the criteria for a federal lawsuit.

According to the lawsuit, the plaintiffs contended that non-Black faculty frequently referred to the Black cadets as a “gang” and referred to the “gang” as “troublemakers.”

The suit also alleged that the school has a history of providing harsher penalties for Black cadets.