Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 27, 1995 TAG: 9508280039
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NEW CASTLE LENGTH: Long
She tightened the straps and picked up the pack to test the weight.
Forty pounds, at least. Maybe 45. Bond would have to carry the pack uphill about three miles, wearing military-issue fatigues - long pants, T-shirt, a cap and stiff new leather boots.
The 18-year-old Radford woman has been on overnight camping trips before, ``but not this extreme.''
She would sweat - a lot - and stumble some, taking each step over the rocky, root-bound trail one at a time.
It may turn out to be good training for the immediate future.
In the coming months, Bond and 41 other students who enrolled in the debuting Virginia Women's Institute for Leadership will have to take each day as it comes as they carry the weight of a legal question with national consequences on their shoulders.
Can women receive a military-style college education separate from, but equal to, that offered men at the Virginia Military Institute?
The program, offered through Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, was established by the state as an alternative to admitting women to the public, all-male Virginia Military Institute. The U.S. Justice Department's 6-year-old sex discrimination lawsuit against VMI has run the legal circuit, and could make its final stop at the Supreme Court this fall.
But all the petitions, motions, judgments and political maneuvers were left far behind last week as the young women headed for the woods of Craig County for four days of physical fitness training that included hiking, rock climbing, kayaking, caving, high and low ropes courses and military drill exercises.
``Everything you do out here is character-building,'' said retired Marine Col. Gene Nervo, who runs Wilderness Adventure at Eagle Landing, where the class camped for four days. Though not affiliated with either school, Nervo offered suggestions to round out the women's wilderness program. ``They'll work up a good sweat just carrying a pack.''
True enough. They were soaked to the bone midway through a two-hour hike in the late afternoon heat Wednesday when they stopped to check for blisters from their new combat boots. Passing the moleskin and Band-Aids around, the students grew quiet. Many just stared at the ground or straight ahead, succumbing for a few moments to the exhaustion that beckoned constantly. It had been a long couple of days.
Tuesday, the students had arrived on campus and moved into their dorm rooms under the glare of national TV cameras and the local press.
Wednesday, at 7:30 a.m., they lined up for calisthenics, then ran two miles around the hilly campus, up and down stairs.
About one-third stuck with assistant coach Sharon Spalding, who completed the route in 191/2 minutes. Ten had to stop before going on. One fell behind, sick to her stomach. A couple of other students coaxed her on, holding her elbow, saying, ``Don't throw up. It's not good for the cameras.''
She managed to climb another flight of stairs, but then leaned over a wall and vomited. Two out-of-town photographers took pictures, and she grew angry when they asked her name.
``I was so embarrassed. I didn't want to fail'' - fail for herself, or for the program, said the young woman, who asked not to be identified. She apologized to the institute's president, Brenda Bryant, who dismissed the incident with a pat on her shoulder.
``Don't worry. You did the best you could, and that's what counts,'' Bryant said.
Personal development, as well as teamwork and leadership, is emphasized at the new institute. Students train according to their individual physical abilities, but all will have to meet minimum standards or lose grade points, Spalding said. The standards are similar to those required of female ROTC students.
VMI officials assisted Mary Baldwin faculty in designing the physical education program and coordinating the young women's participation in ROTC at the VMI campus in Lexington.
Every six months, the college must report to the federal district court on the progress of the program's students, Spalding said. The women's program must be comparable to the training that VMI cadets receive in order to pass legal muster.
Exactly how that will be judged remains uncertain.
``We're still feeling our way through this,'' said Col. Gordon Calkins, head of the physical education department at VMI, who stopped by the wilderness camp Thursday to observe the female students in action.
VMI cadets have no formal wilderness program, Calkins said, although they tackle ropes courses, rappelling, rock climbing and other activities throughout the year.
The cadets' first week is an indoctrination to the ``rat line,'' a regimen of calisthenics, running, marching, military drills, memorizing the school's honor code, dressing in uniform and rigorous - at times humiliating - discipline from upperclassmen.
The women's program is focused less on military training, and the participants' first week was devoted to teamwork, solving problems, building confidence, and having some fun on their wilderness adventure.
To distract them from the monotony - and the pain - of their first hike, one group of students broke into song, starting with Jimmy Buffett's ``Cheeseburger in Paradise,'' sung to the Marine Corps' sound-off march drill, and winding up with a few bars of ``The Brady Bunch'' theme.
As the days went by, the young women probably lost a couple pounds each and a little skin here and there, but gained new friends, knowledge, and something else harder to define.
``I feel like I can do more stuff,'' said 17-year-old Jennifer Lordan, from Richmond. ``I'm kind of getting over my fear of heights because I keep challenging it.''
After failing her first attempt, Lordan went back and conquered the ``pole climb,'' a 40-foot scramble up a skinny tree with only a few small blocks as foot- and hand-holds. Once on top, students stand on a platform no bigger than 18 inches square, then leap out 4 feet to catch a trapeze bar. Most people miss, and are lowered to the ground on a safety rope attached at the waist.
The exercise also strengthens the bonds among the new students. As another student, Michelle Rogerson, made her way to the top of the pole climb, the others in her group told her where the blocks were and where to place her foot.
``Go girl, you can do it!''
As she neared the top, the others stood and cheered her on, and President Bryant tapped her feet in excitement. Bryant had hiked with a full pack, eaten the same food, camped out and gotten blisters right alongside the students. She had also made it to the top of the pole climb, and knew what Rogerson was going through.
``Oh, crap, I'm not sure I want to be up here,'' Rogerson shouted, balancing on the platform and looking down at her colleagues. She couldn't let go of the rope and take the leap.
``I'm so proud of you!'' someone yelled up at her.
``Look at the wire, just look at the wire.''
She jumped, but missed the bar. They all clapped anyway. Once on the ground, two friends came up and put an arm around her shoulders.
``Very good,'' Bryant said, nodding at her.
Priscilla Rich, by her own admission, is not in great shape. That's one reason she wanted to enroll in the women's institute. A petite young woman from Dumfries, Rich said she's never done anything like the wilderness training before.
``Girl Scouts doesn't really count because you were pampered,'' she said, lugging a pack almost half her size and weight.
Rich has no plans to enter the military, but expects to learn self-discipline, motivation and leadership while at Mary Baldwin - ``To be able to go out with confidence into the business world.''
And she, for one, doesn't think VMI should have to enroll women. ``Why ruin tradition when you have an equal opportunity right here?'' Besides, she said, ``I would hate for a guy to come into Mary Baldwin and wreck it.''
Despite the platoon of journalists that followed them for a couple of afternoons, the students did not dwell on the historic nature of their wilderness experience. Many had already been photographed and interviewed by their local newspapers and TV stations, and were anything but shy.
There seemed little concern that one of them would become the next Shannon Faulkner, who recently quit during her first week as the first woman cadet at The Citadel, the only other public, all-male military college.
``We're not Shannon Faulkner,'' Lordan said. ``We're not there. This is our own thing. Why should we feel pressure because she didn't make it? We need to concentrate on what we're doing.''
by CNB