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

DATE: TUESDAY, August 29, 1995                   TAG: 9508290042
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CHARLESTON, S.C.                                LENGTH: Medium

AT LEAST 2 WOMEN GEARING UP TO TAKE ON CITADEL'S POLICY

There has been a delay in filing court papers, but two women still hope to march in The Citadel's all-male corps of cadets, one of the lawyer's challenging the males-only policy said Monday.

``The only thing we are saying now is that we will file in the near future,'' said attorney Val Vojdik. ``It always takes longer than you think.''

Attorneys had planned to file last week on behalf of the two unidentified women who want to take Shannon Faulkner's place in her lawsuit against the state military school. The filing was delayed until Monday, then delayed again.

``People should not read anything into it,'' said Vojdik. The two women still plan to intervene, and ``we have been contacted by several others. We are doing our best to move expeditiously,'' she said.

Faulkner fought a successful 21/2-year court battle to join the all-male corps of cadets. But she dropped out Aug. 18 after less than a week on campus, citing the stress of the court fight and her isolation.

While attorneys continue the legal fight, a $10 million state program designed to keep women out of the corps begins this week at Converse College, a private all-women college in Spartanburg.

A total of 22 students are expected to arrive Wednesday for orientation to the program known as the South Carolina Institute of Leadership for Women.

The opening day includes an overview and a session in media relations for parents and students. Students will take leadership and physical training, be measured for uniforms and receive Reserve Officer Training Corps orientation during the following two days.

The leadership students leave Saturday for a four-day wilderness trip in the North Carolina mountains.

``We are ready to go and looking forward to the arrival of our students,'' Converse President Sandra Thomas said.

South Carolina hopes the courts will see the program as a legal alternative to women at The Citadel. U.S. District Judge C. Weston Houck has scheduled a November trial on the program's merits.

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled a similar program at Mary Baldwin College is an acceptable alternative to admitting women to Virginia Military Institute.

The U.S. Justice Department, which is challenging all-male admission policies at The Citadel and VMI, has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, saying the separate-but-equal program at Mary Baldwin is unconstitutional.

The Citadel and VMI are the country's only state-supported all-male military schools.

by CNB