Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 25, 1993 TAG: 9305250317
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BONNIE V. WINSTON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Democratic candidate Mary Sue Terry, the first woman nominated by a major party for governor, called for VMI to give up its fight and admit women.
But all three Republican candidates said VMI should remain all-male and that the state should create an alternative military program for women elsewhere.
"I will keep VMI just as it is today. I may not even paint the place during my administration," said one of the Republican hopefuls, Del. Clinton Miller of Shenandoah.
Terry argued that VMI's Board of Visitors "can't give the school away. The board can't build another school for women. There seems to be no other course for the board to take but to admit women."
Still, there is confusion over who has authority to determine the state's course.
Through a spokesman, Gov. Douglas Wilder said the next move is up to the VMI board. But state Attorney General Stephen Rosenthal and House Speaker Thomas Moss of Norfolk said VMI's future is in Wilder's hands.
The VMI board could decide on its own to admit women, but only Wilder and the legislature could create a new VMI for women or turn the Lexington institute over to private owners.
Robert L. Holsworth, a political analyst at Virginia Commonwealth University, said it would be interesting to see if Wilder "seeks to give some direction" to VMI as he did last month to "put his mark on Virginia State University's direction."
Wilder fired the entire Virginia State board and then held interviews to determine who would be most supportive of new President Eddie N. Moore, who had been a Wilder appointee as state treasurer.
"The choice [Wilder] makes may reflect his strategy should he run for the U.S. Senate. He might alienate some people who've liked the way he has managed the state," Holsworth said.
Politically, Terry only clarified what VMI supporters knew when she quit the school's defense, said Thomas Morris, a 1966 VMI graduate and constitutional scholar who is president of Emory & Henry College. "She has cut her ties to VMI."
Terry will face Miller, businessman Earle Williams of McLean or former Rep. George Allen of Charlottesville in November. Republicans will choose their candidate at a convention in June.
personal opinion," she said.
Holsworth said Monday's pronouncement indicates Terry is continuing to "play the gender card" in the election.
Terry said she broke her silence Monday because she was no longer part of the case, and because the high court's action left VMI little choice but to admit women.
by CNB