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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 15, 1993                   TAG: 9309150233
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

COUNCIL IS CO-DEFENDANT IN VMI DISCRIMINATION CASE

A federal judge has agreed with the Justice Department that the State Council of Higher Education should be a co-defendant in the sex discrimination case involving Virginia Military Institute.

Judge Jackson Kiser decided to bring the state board back into the court battle despite a request from Gov. Douglas Wilder that it be left out.

The order filed Monday did not include any reasoning, but the Justice Department said the council must be involved because VMI may propose a parallel program for women.

The council oversees the state's colleges, but it has limited regulatory powers over them because the school's independent boards of visitors control admission policies.

Council Director Gordon Davies found out about the decision at a council meeting at Mountain Lake on Tuesday.

"I don't know what it means," he said.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last year that VMI's all-male admission policy faces constitutional problems unless Virginia offers the same educational opportunities for women.

The court ruling requires VMI either to admit women or go private, or the state to create a comparable program for women.

Davies said he doesn't expect that the council will be required to submit a proposal to the court.

Kiser has ordered that a solution be presented Sept. 27.

by CNB