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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 3, 1993                   TAG: 9311030342
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

VMI, HONOR CODE STAND BEHIND CADET

Virginia Military Institute - standing behind the cadet who reported receiving threatening, racially motivated letters - is conducting an investigation of its own to determine who was responsible.

The announcement followed a statement by Maj. Gen. John Knapp, VMI superintendent, that a Virginia State Police and FBI investigation showed there was no crime committed, no racial motivation in the threats and no danger to the cadet.

Phillip Watson of Greenwood, S.C., reported receiving three threatening letters in late September and early October, one of which contained racial epithets. VMI asked state and federal authorities to investigate.

State police had said in a brief statement Friday evening that Watson told authorities the incident was a hoax and that he never intended for the investigation to go very far. But Watson - a first classman, or senior - claimed Saturday that authorities had unjustly portrayed him as the perpetrator. Watson said he told authorities that the letters may have been a joke - but not one initiated by him.

Monday, Watson issued a statement to the Corps of Cadets, saying he did not write the letters and did not know who wrote them.

"Absent evidence to the contrary, that is all we need in the VMI system to relieve him of any suspicion," Knapp said.

Lt. Col. Michael Strickler, VMI's director of public relations, said the school is sticking by investigators' findings.

"Now we have to stick by what Cadet Watson said - that he did not write the notes and did not know who did," Strickler said. "Because of our honor system, we stick by what he says."

The basic premise of VMI's strict honor code is that a cadet will not lie, cheat, steal or tolerate those who do.

"A cadet is assumed to be telling the truth," said one cadet, who asked that his name not be used. "If he lies, we won't be talking about him anymore."

A cadet accused of a code offense stands trial before the school's honor court. If a cadet is convicted, he is dismissed from school. In a ceremony called "drumming out," the cadet's name is spoken once during a drum roll and is never spoken again.

by CNB