Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, January 31, 1995 TAG: 9501310145
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
But an attorney for 20-year-old Shannon Faulkner argued before the three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the cases are not the same. The judges also noted the differences.
VMI, the nation's only other all-male state-supported school, is setting up an alternative military-style program to begin this fall at Mary Baldwin College. The Citadel, in Charleston, S.C., said it will create an alternative program only if the court forces it to.
The Justice Department challenged the admission policy at VMI, which had no application pending from females. Faulkner, a sophomore, faces an August deadline for joining The Citadel's corps of cadets and being allowed to take part in military training.
Her lawyer, Valorie K. Vojdik, said the appeals court should uphold a federal judge's ruling allowing Faulkner to become a cadet because the school ``does not have a God-given, fundamental right to remain all-male.''
And even if an alternate program were available, it wouldn't compare to the history and traditions of The Citadel, she said.
``There is no plan. There is simply nothing,'' Vojdik said. ``Shannon has eight months in order to obtain any relief in this case. ... That's not enough time.''
Dawes Cooke, the attorney for The Citadel, argued that single-gender education should be preserved. He said The Citadel's policy is constitutional because there was no aim to discriminate against women and there's no pressing demand for military training by women.
If necessary, Cooke said, The Citadel could develop an alternative program similar to VMI's arrangement with Mary Baldwin College. But Faulkner is not interested, he said.
``She has declined any interest in other opportunities,'' Cooke said.
Cooke repeatedly mentioned a 2-1 decision by the appellate panel Thursday that VMI's plan was an acceptable alternative to admitting women.
But Presiding Judge Kenneth K. Hall said Cooke's comparison was not valid, because The Citadel was dealing with a student who had applied for admission while there was no applicant in question in VMI's case.
``In Virginia, they were talking about a policy,'' he said. In this case, ``talking about some other college doesn't address what is happening to her [Faulkner].''
Judge Clyde Hamilton asked Vojdik what would be wrong with an alternative program such as Mary Baldwin's.
``It would be inadequate,'' she replied. ``Shannon has the right to get the benefits of The Citadel.''
The appeals court did not indicate when it might rule in Faulkner's case.
The Citadel accepted Faulkner in January 1993 after gender references were removed from her high school transcript. When the school learned she was a woman, it withdrew her acceptance.
by CNB