THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, July 5, 1995 TAG: 9507050090
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: SPARTANBURG, S.C. LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
Shannon Faulkner had seen most of it before and she knew she wouldn't like it.
Faulkner toured Converse College Monday, the site of a proposed leadership program being created to keep her out of The Citadel.
The tour came at the request of U.S. District Judge C. Weston Houck, who is to decide whether to admit Faulkner to the Charleston military school's corps of cadets or accept the state's alternative proposal.
Converse President Sandra Thomas led Houck, Faulkner and about 40 staff members, lawyers and reporters on a tour of the 67-acre campus.
After the tour, Houck called the school `` a beautiful campus'' and said the tour will help him make a decision.
Faulkner, who attended yearbook camps at Converse for years, has already made her decision.
``I will not come to Converse,'' Faulkner said after the 90-minute tour. ``It's not The Citadel, and there's no way they can duplicate The Citadel here in just a couple of months because that's not their goal.''
The alternative program lacks the discipline and the prestige of The Citadel, she said.
Houck took a similar tour last week of Mary Baldwin College in Virginia, the site of an alternative leadership program designed to keep women out of Virginia Military Institute.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ordered that Faulkner be admitted to The Citadel next month, unless there is an approved alternative program.
The deadline for appealing that order was extended from July 12 to August 11, Citadel spokesman Terry Leedom said Monday. The Citadel and the state requested an extension June 30.
VMI and The Citadel are the only state-supported, all-male colleges in the country. The U.S. Justice Department has said it will challenge an appeals court decision approving the VMI alternative.
The Citadel and the state would pay $10 million to set up the alternative program. Women in the program would receive about $10,000 each in state subsidies.
Houck has set a hearing for July 11 on whether to give Faulkner's lawyers 90 days to prepare for a trial on the South Carolina Institute of Leadership for Women. If the delay was approved, Faulkner could be admitted to the corps of cadets.
Faulkner's disappointment with the program did not surprise Thomas.
``My understanding is that Shannon is interested in a coeducational experience; we are interested in preserving our single-gender education experience,'' Thomas said. She and Faulkner introduced themselves during the tour.
Faulkner's disappointment doesn't change Thomas' plans to pursue the program. Converse plans to renovate lecture halls, a dormitory and student facilities to accommodate the leadership program, she said.
The school has had a number of ``expressions of interest'' but no applications, Thomas said.
If the program is rejected, Converse will continue with its two-year-old plan for a leadership program for women, without state backing, she said.
Val Vojdik, aFaulkner attorney, said the tour exposed the state's flimsy efforts to resolve the matter.
``What we saw were a lot of signs saying `SCIL Program,' but if you opened the door, the rooms were empty,'' Vojdik said. ``There's no director, there's no residence counselors, there's no students, no one has even applied.''
KEYWORDS: CITADEL SHANNON FAULKNER by CNB