ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, October 1, 1996 TAG: 9610010061
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ALLISON BLAKE STAFF WRITER
Virginia Military Institute announced its recruitment program for women on Monday, but local high school counselors say the targets of their push have had little to say about the soon-to-be coed school.
"I have not seen anybody beating the doors down to go to VMI at this point. I don't expect to have any huge influx. I think it's the kind of thing that will occur little by little as [women] see what the attitude is," Northside High School guidance coordinator Esther Johnson said.
Her counterpart at Patrick Henry High School agreed. If nothing else, it's early in the school year and most high school seniors still are debating where to apply for college.
"Just from keeping my ear to the ground, I don't hear any great groundswell," Dale Johnson said.
Among the keys will be the addition of a woman recruitment officer to the school's admissions office. Interviews for the position have begun, spokesman Mike Strickler said. The school will focus on finding young women in search of a military-school education, or programs such as engineering, which VMI offers.
A national direct-mail company is sending 16,500 letters to prospective students, and open houses are slated for Oct. 18-19 and Nov. 15-16, Strickler said.
Letters from school officials also will be mailed to high school counselors and coaches and to junior-college and community-college counselors. Efforts also are under way to bring high school guidance counselors to VMI.
Vern Beitzel, VMI's director of admissions, was away on Monday. However, in a statement issued by the school, he said Superintendent Josiah Bunting III is sending letters to "all-girl high schools all over the country, inviting them to refer to us young women whom they feel would benefit from the VMI experience."
Blacksburg High School is getting ready for a visit from VMI on Oct. 23, said guidance counselor Shelly Blumenthal. While no girls have shown interest in the school, two young men have, Blumenthal said.
VMI has said it will change next to nothing at the 157-year-old school, except that the sexes will be housed separately when women arrive in the fall of '97. Among the traditions it intends to keep: ensuring that everyone, men and women alike, get "buzzcuts."
"I was a little bit concerned when I heard that," said Gary Kelly, director of guidance for Roanoke County Schools. "I would say, certainly, that might be a problem for some girls."
But, most of all, it's too soon to know where any students will find themselves in a year. Northside High School starts its one-on-one interviews with seniors next week, and will discuss transcripts and college admissions with all students, Esther Johnson said.
"It isn't like VMI is saying [with] open arms, 'Come on, ladies,' " she said. Their success "will have a whole lot to do with the public relations they put out in the next few months."
In other VMI news, the state on Monday filed court papers with U.S. District Court Judge Jackson Kiser in Roanoke to return the case to his courtroom.
Kiser has not set a date for further action, said a spokeswoman in his office.
LENGTH: Medium: 64 linesby CNB