
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, March 24, 1990                   TAG: 9003262157
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

GOVERNOR CAN'T DUCK VMI ISSUE

WHAT, exactly, does it mean that Gov. Wilder wants to be excused from the federal government's suit to force Virginia Military Institute to admit women? There are numerous possibilities, ranging from deep significance to procedural paper-shuffling.

By asking to have his name deleted from the list of state defendants in the Justice Department's suit, is the governor indicating he favors coeducation at VMI? Or is he merely trying to pare the case to the proper defendant, VMI's Board of Visitors? That was the reason Virginia Attorney General Mary Sue Terry gave for seeking to remove the State Council of Higher Education from the case. She maintains that it's not necessary to have Wilder as a defendant, either.

Some Democrats believe the Bush administration has been playing politics with the VMI case from the beginning. The young woman who protested the military school's admissions policy filed her complaint nearly a year ago, they point out. But the Justice Department didn't file suit until after Wilder was inaugurated in January.

Certainly, a case involving alleged discrimination by the state is a potential source of embarrassment for the nation's first black governor. Wilder once was denied admission to the University of Virginia law school himself because of his race. Could he in good conscience argue in favor of keeping women out of VMI?

But naming the state's chief executive in a legal action against a state institution is not an overtly political act. A similar action by the Justice Department filed in any other state no doubt would name the governor. On the other hand, Wilder's request to be removed from the case isn't necessarily political, either. He is new on the job, and has had nothing to do with setting VMI's admissions policy.

But whether he has to go to court or not, the governor won't be able to duck the issue. Wilder does have influence on VMI policy, through his appointments to the Board of Visitors. And eight seats on the 15-member board come open this year, enough to carry a vote for coeducation.

Wilder hasn't said whether he thinks VMI should abandon tradition and open its doors to women. He may not say so directly, either. But his appointments to the board will say something - something about his commitment to ending discrimination in Virginia in any form.

by CNB