THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, November 4, 1994 TAG: 9411040679
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: STAUNTON LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines
More than 80 women have expressed interest in a military-style leadership program created as an alternative to the all-male Virginia Military Institute.
Officials at Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, site of the new Virginia Women's Institute for Leadership program, said two women have applied for a place in the program.
``It amazed me,'' said Heather Wilson, acting director of the Women's Institute. ``To have that kind of response with people who only read about it in the newspapers and that wasn't all positive. . . . I'm over the moon.''
U.S. District Judge Jackson L. Kiser approved the institute April 29 as a means of offering women a single-sex, military-based educational experience comparable to that provided by VMI.
The leadership program was created in response to a sexual discrimination case brought by the U.S. Justice Department in 1990 to force coeducation at state-supported VMI.
The two applicants are from Virginia, Wilson said. The inquiries are about evenly divided among state and out-of state women, she said.
Student orientation - consisting in part of a four-day, rigorous wilderness experience in Craig County - is scheduled to begin Aug. 23. Officials hope to have about 25 students by then.
``I think it looks good,'' said Mike Strickler, a spokesman for VMI. ``It's going to take a little time. It's brand-new, and you have to get the word out.''
The program is looking for a permanent director. About 40 applications have been received for the job, officials said.
A full-time recruiter for the institute was hired in July with a budget of $96,000. Recruiters plan to visit about 500 high schools by May.
About 1,000 mailings were sent to prospective applicants last week, Wilson said.
The VMI Foundation has provided interim financing of the institute that will total $300,000 by January. About $5.5 million will be paid to Mary Baldwin to create an endowment fund if the institute receives final court approval.
Kiser originally ruled in favor of VMI after the lawsuit was filed in 1990. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the exclusion of women at VMI was discriminatory but gave the state the option of setting up a similar program for women.
The Supreme Court declined to hear VMI's appeal, and the case was returned to Kiser with the 4th Circuit's suggestions on how to pass constitutional muster. They included admitting women to VMI, going private or setting up a similar all-female program. by CNB