Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 22, 1993 TAG: 9309220060
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
A proposed "leadership program" at Mary Baldwin College that could end litigation over Virginia Military Institute's all-male admissions policy has been received by students with questions and confusion - and fear that their school was becoming a "VMI for women."
Mary Baldwin President Cynthia Tyson met with students Tuesday to ease concerns about a proposed program that would provide leadership education for women without the military component.
The briefing left some students wondering "Why?"
"Why do we need a separate program?" asked Anne Bushman, a junior at the private women's college in Staunton. "Don't we already have that here? If we're doing this to solve VMI's problem, are we being too accommodating?"
The proposed program, built on a liberal arts base, is to be voted on by Mary Baldwin's faculty Friday.
Tyson was not available for comment Tuesday. But one student who attended the briefing said Tyson described the program as "like a minor, in addition to major requirements and liberal arts core requirements.
"Basically, what she said was, women enrolled in the program would have to engage in a more extensive orientation which might include wilderness, adventure-type programs to build teamwork and to learn how to handle stressful situations and also develop problem-solving skills," the student said.
The U.S. Supreme Court in May upheld an appeals court ruling that the admissions policy at state-supported VMI was unconstitutional.
The appeals court gave the Lexington school three options: admit women; set up a parallel program; or go private and lose state funding that provides $10 million of the school's $27 million annual budget.
VMI's lawyers are due in U.S. District Court in Roanoke on Monday to present a proposed means of compliance with the court order. VMI's board of visitors is scheduled to meet with its lawyers Saturday to devise such a plan.
Sources said Monday that Gov. Douglas Wilder was given a plan last week calling for a program at Mary Baldwin. Tuesday, Wilder said he had not finished looking at what was being proposed by VMI's board.
"I think it would be well for me to see what they do before I respond," he said. "I really haven't looked at what the final result is going to be."
Charles S. Luck III, chairman of Mary Baldwin's board of trustees, said Tuesday that the college was "waiting to see what the governor has to say."
Though Luck, a 1955 VMI graduate, declined to say what arrangements may have been made between VMI and Mary Baldwin, "we've got our fingers crossed." The proposal "has some merit, I think, for both colleges," he said.
Some Mary Baldwin students, however, are not convinced.
"There are a lot of mixed emotions," said Sara Knowles, a senior who is president of the student government association. "It's hard to understand when there is no clear information. A lot of people are questioning, `Why are they doing this? What would it be?' "
Mary Beth Butler, president of the junior class, said some people on campus had known about meetings between Mary Baldwin administrators and VMI, fueling speculation among students.
"Students were not sure what it entailed," Butler said.
But Knowles and Butler said the program could benefit Mary Baldwin.
"We have to look at the broader picture, not at women in uniform marching across the campus," Knowles said. "We have to look at the long-term effect of what it can do for us."
Yet, fashioning a leadership program strictly for Mary Baldwin and fashioning one in the supposed interest of VMI differ greatly, some students say.
"If we do this to help VMI, it's a contradiction," said Carie Burke, a junior. "We are supposed to be advocates for women, but we're regressing back for VMI."
Mary Baldwin's program does allow students to participate in James Madison University's Army ROTC program, said Ann Spencer, Mary Baldwin's director of communications. Participants commute to JMU, she said.
This year, only one student is enrolled in the program.
The college bears remnants of a military academy it purchased 17 years ago. Atop a hill across from the student center stands a cannon from the old Staunton Military Academy, framed from behind by a flag and a stone monument.
To some at the college, the "leadership program" isn't necessarily about the military.
Tyson has tried to convey the program proposal as a "vision," Bushman said.
"If it helps VMI, so be it," she said Tyson has told students. "If it helps the Commonwealth, so be it. But it's something she says Mary Baldwin wants to do for the advancement of women."
Staff writers Dale Eisman and Bonnie V. Winston contributed information to this report.
by CNB