Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 16, 1994 TAG: 9402160128
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ALLISON BLAKE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"This is a marriage of convenience, among an institution that irrationally fears women, an institution that justifiably fears red ink, and a state government that defines diversity as abdication," said Michael Maurer in his closing argument on the sixth and final day of the latest trial in VMI's quest to remain all-male.
Maurer concluded that VMI must admit women to satisfy the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. And he noted the much-discussed deficit at Mary Baldwin College, where the women's leadership program would be located.
College officials repeatedly have cited the deficit as a planned, four-year budgeting strategy to coincide with a poor economy and a drop in enrollment caused by the 1970s "baby bust." Tuesday, the college issued a statement that says its deficit is $3.2 million - not $6.5 million as reported last week by a government witness.
And Mary Baldwin's president, Cynthia Tyson, reiterated that her college will proceed with the proposed institute, even if it ultimately is rejected by the courts.
"I'm very proud of Mary Baldwin's plan," she said after the trial ended. "It is very good for women. The opposite side said nothing more than I had anticipated. They were here to say critical things about Mary Baldwin College, VMI and the commonwealth of Virginia."
In his own closing remarks, VMI attorney William Broaddus called the proposed institute "a marvelous achievement." Plans include ROTC, advanced science and math, group living for up to two years, tough physical fitness training and upperclass "mentoring" of freshmen.
In his final remarks, Broaddus readily agreed that the leadership institute does not try to reflect VMI's daily life - just the final benefits to the graduating citizen-soldiers. And, he said, it is likely to attract more women than a tough, boot-camp VMI-style military program.
Agreeing has been the state of Virginia, with solid support from Gov. George Allen and his administration, who say the plan promotes diversity in public higher education.
Broaddus criticized the outside witnesses brought in by the federal government and recapped the testimony of the witnesses who testified in favor of the plan, from feminist women's studies pioneer Elizabeth Fox-Genovese to former U.S. Army ROTC Cadet Command Gen. Robert Wagner.
Virginia, Broaddus pointed out, has a right to decide what kind of education it will offer its citizens.
The plan is the product of an appeals court ruling in the nearly 5-year-old case, originally brought by the Justice Department to force VMI to admit women.
In 1992, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned U.S. District Judge Jackson Kiser's earlier finding in favor of VMI and said the state must provide women the same opportunity. VMI could admit women, go private or come up with a parallel plan.
Broaddus cited backing for a plan such as the leadership institute in a decision by the same court in a similar case against The Citadel. A woman, Shannon Faulkner, has won the temporary right to attend classes in the all-male military school in South Carolina.
In that decision, the court said its order in the VMI case did not "direct that any parallel program which the state might choose to provide be identical for both men and women."
Just after 5 p.m. Kiser gave his final instructions in the trial. Both sides will now return to their offices and draw their own legal conclusions about the Mary Baldwin plan.
Kiser wants those conclusions by March 8. He may issue his decision about two weeks after that, said his clerk, Jon Soderberg.
by CNB