Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 4, 1991 TAG: 9104040196
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: MADELYN ROSENBERG/ HIGHER EDUCATION WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Maj. Gen. John Knapp, a VMI graduate who has been at the school for more than 30 years, spent Wednesday afternoon conferring with attorneys. He has spent the past week preparing information for the trial.
"The order of the witnesses is up to the government," said William Poff, a Roanoke lawyer helping to defend VMI's policy. "But they've given every indication that Gen. Knapp and other VMI leaders will be the first witnesses."
Amy Casner, a spokeswoman for the Justice Department in Washington, would not confirm Wednesday that Knapp would be called first.
A list of the government's witnesses filed in the clerk's office includes Knapp, officers in charge of ROTC programs and experts on higher education.
The Justice Department filed suit against VMI last year, claiming that the school's admissions policy violated the 14th Amendment and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The trial, scheduled to begin this morning at 9:30, is expected to continue for at least four days. Judge Jackson Kiser has said it may take longer.
As out-of-state alumni and news reporters have prepared to make the trip to Roanoke for the proceedings, the clerk's office in the Poff Federal Building on Franklin Road has become an unofficial travel agency.
"We're getting calls from people saying, `Where should we stay? How should we get there?' " said Rebecca Collins, a deputy clerk.
The office also has received calls from reporters asking if they could reserve seats in the courtroom.
"We tell them we don't take reservations," Collins said with a laugh. "We just say they should get here early. . . . This doesn't happen very often."
by CNB