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

DATE: TUESDAY, May 17, 1994                   TAG: 9405170125
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: ALLISON BLAKE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

GOVERNMENT APPEALS VMI RULING

To no one's surprise, the U.S. Justice Department has appealed a district court judge's approval of the proposed leadership institute for women that would allow Virginia Military Institute to satisfy the Constitution and remain all-male.

Perhaps unusual, however, was the justice department press release announcing the appeal, issued from its headquarters in Washington and the U.S. District Attorney's office in Roanoke. Through nearly five years of litigation, the Justice Department has maintained a low press profile in the case.

At VMI, where the results of a highly charged investigation into a cheating scandal also were being released to the press, spokesman Mike Strickler said, "It doesn't surprise anyone."

The Justice Department announcement came Monday, after it had filed a notice of intent to appeal late Friday. Also on Monday, in a U.S. District Court room in Charleston, S.C., the nation's other all-male military school, The Citadel, went on trial for its refusal to admit women. Many of the same players are active in both cases: attorneys for McGuire Woods Battle and Booth, the Richmond law firm quarterbacking the VMI defense, could not be reached because most were defending The Citadel.

The justice department is on the other side of that case, backing the woman who sued to attend The Citadel, Shannon Faulkner.

While the two cases share some similarities, The Citadel has not developed a program as defined as the Virginia Women's Institute for Leadership, which would be housed at private Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, 30 miles from VMI. The program grew from an earlier appeals court ruling that VMI must go private, coed, or develop an alternative, parallel or creative plan.

The women's institute has the backing of both the General Assembly and Gov. George Allen. The private VMI Foundation is willing to spend $6.9 million to get the program up and running, and the state will pay stipends to offset the difference in tuition between Mary Baldwin and VMI.

"We're certainly not surprised, but we're confident the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals will agree with Judge [Jackson] Kiser that the plan for [the women's institute] passes constitutional muster," said Mark A. Miner, spokesman for attorney general Jim Gilmore. A spokesman in the U.S. attorney's office in Roanoke said it easily could be another year before the appeals court hears the case.

by CNB