THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 27, 1995 TAG: 9501270679
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines
Virginia Military Institute, which has fought for nearly five years to remain an all-male bastion, may proceed with plans to set up an alternative female military school rather than admit women, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.
But the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also ordered a federal court to review the nascent program at Mary Baldwin College, a private women's school in Staunton, about 35 miles from the 156-year-old public military academy in Lexington.
``I am simply delighted,'' said Heather Wilson, acting director of Mary Baldwin's leadership program, which is scheduled to begin in the fall. She said the program should easily meet the stipulations the court ordered to ensure women are getting parallel opportunities.
But the 2-1 ruling also could set the stage for a fight before the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Justice Department, which challenged VMI's males-only policy on behalf of a young Northern Virginia woman in 1990, would say only that it is ``reviewing the opinion to determine whether to appeal.''
The department has 90 days to decide. Its attorneys have argued that the Mary Baldwin program - proposed to satisfy an earlier 4th Circuit ruling that VMI must admit women or go private unless the state offers comparable training elsewhere - is no match for VMI's intense military-style training.
Sandra Brandt, state chairwoman of the Women's Political Caucus, was disappointed with the court's ruling.
``Women should have the right to go to schools paid by or partially funded by taxpayers' monies,'' Brandt said. ``The U.S. Naval Academy and other institutions have successfully integrated women into their facilities. We should be able to do the same in Virginia.''
Brandt added that implementing a new program is impractical when many state colleges and universities are receiving hefty budget cuts.
``How can we consider another institution at this time?'' she said. ``Why duplicate it when we already have an institution that's in place?''
Thursday's ruling could foreshadow the outcome of an appeal the 4th Circuit is to hear Monday. The appeal was brought by The Citadel, the nation's only other state-supported school with a single-sex admissions policy.
Shannon Faulkner is attending day classes at the Charleston, S.C., school while it challenges a federal judge's order allowing her into the corps of cadets.
The 4th Circuit on Thursday ``basically approved a glorified ROTC program for women that is clearly not the equivalent or parallel of VMI,'' said John Banzhaf, an attorney whose complaint against The Citadel's all-male admissions policy led to Faulkner's partial admission. ``Certainly, they are telegraphing that The Citadel could do roughly the same thing.''
Banzhaf predicted the Justice Department would appeal the VMI ruling, given its five-year investment in the case.
VMI, where Confederate hero Stonewall Jackson once taught, is known for its demanding atmosphere. First-year students are forced to shave their heads, are called ``rats'' by upperclassmen and are put through rigorous discipline.
The Mary Baldwin program would be operated by contract with VMI. Unlike VMI, students would not wear military uniforms or live in spartan barracks. The state argued that women do not fare as well as men under such intense training.
Wilson said Mary Baldwin should easily meet the orders the 4th Circuit sent back to the U.S. District Court in Roanoke.
They include stipulations that the program have a commitment for adequate state funding, have a qualified director, advertise itself well and have an appropriate review process to ensure that it's living up to its mission.
Wilson said a director has been hired and will begin work this spring. She said about 15 high school students out of about 300 prospects already have been accepted for this fall's charter class.
Judge Paul V. Niemeyer, writing for the majority in the opinion, said ``the homogeneity of gender in the process, regardless of which sex is considered,'' comprised the essence of the VMI's education and training.
The dissenter to the ruling was Judge James Dickson Phillips. He said he did not believe the plan would bring Virginia into compliance with equal protection guarantees.
Lt. Col. Mike Strickler, a VMI spokesman, said the school was delighted by the decision. Cadets learned of the ruling through an announcement broadcast in the barracks Thursday afternoon.
``They are quite pleased . . . and relieved that, hopefully, this is the end of it,'' he said. MEMO: Staff writer Denise Watson contributed to this story.
by CNB