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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 11, 1994                   TAG: 9405110119
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By ALLISON BLAKE STAFF WRITER NOTE: below
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

3 RESIGN, 4 MORE SUSPECTED IN VMI CHEATING RING

Seven cadets are suspects. The board of inquiry's report is due May 16.

``Some cadets know more than others about what happened,'' said second classman T. Alan Dean. ``I think the overall cadet reaction is shock.''

According to VMI spokesman Mike Strickler, the probe began after faculty members in the department of economics and business noticed ``irregularities'' on tests. The matter was referred to the school's all-cadet honor court, which has the authority to literally ``drum out'' cadets for breaking the single-sanction honor code.

A cadet can be kicked out if he lies, cheats or steals. The code is posted in all rooms, with a banner announcement in bold capital letters, ``Ignorance is no excuse.'' It's not unusual for a handful of cadets to be drummed out each year, Strickler said.

Strickler said the honor court reviewed the case and took the unusual step of returning the matter to VMI's administration.

``It was a situation in which the honor court felt it could not handle this. I don't know why, but they felt it was a case where the superintendent needed to handle this,'' he said.

VMI, which is defending its all-male admission policy in court, issued a statement from its superintendent, Maj. Gen. John Knapp, who appointed the faculty-cadet board. According to Dean, some cadets were bothered that the honor court turned the situation over to the administration.

``The honor court knows the cadets were doing wrong, were cheating, but did not have the available material to convict them,'' he said. ``Of course, the administration is going to do their best to get rid of the cadets in whatever ways.''

Still, Dean said this year's honor court president seemed to be trying to open up the process and get away from former ``gestapo-like tactics.''

He said most of the cadets alleged to be involved are juniors - second classmen, in VMI parlance.

The VMI cheating probe comes only days after 24 midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., were expelled for violating a single-sanction honor code by cheating. Also adhering to a student-run single-sanction honor code are the University of Virginia and Washington and Lee University, next door to VMI.

The single-sanction code is reviewed at least every four years at Washington and Lee. Just this winter, UVa students reaffirmed their code, which had been challenged within the student body.

But back at VMI, Dean said he could see why cadets might feel pressured to cheat.

``All the guys in this inquiry are in the business department. The business department's reputation [is], you go in there, some of the business classes, you're almost guaranteed to repeat. You're not going to get a job with a 2.5 [grade-point average].''

Since VMI stopped requiring cadets to take commissions in the armed services, cadets have not had guaranteed jobs.

``Financially, they can't keep paying for this class [if they have to repeat it], and it gets to the point where you might resort to other things,'' Dean said.

Summer school costs $97 per hour for Virginia residents, and $182 for out-of-state students. Classes are usually three hours.

Meanwhile, the head of the department where the cheating allegedly occurred conceded that VMI's old-style honor system can be at odds with the contemporary world. Asked if he saw a connection between the Naval Academy cheating scandal and the current VMI probe, Floyd Duncan said no

``Obviously, both the Naval Academy and VMI draw students from the same outside real world, where I think there are ethical crises every day, from national political leaders - you read about it every front page. There's more of a feeling today [that] people think they have a right to win and it's OK to do things in order to win. It gives rise to things like resume fraud - people will trump up a resume, or lie on a resume, because they think they have a right to a job, a right to win.

``It's hard for an institution like VMI to stick to traditional values when our kids see examples from the rest of the world.''