THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, July 25, 1995 TAG: 9507250262
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A2 EDITION: FINAL
DATELINE: CHARLESTON, S.C. LENGTH: Short : 35 lines
A federal judge on Monday cleared a hurdle for Shannon Faulkner in her effort to become the first woman cadet at The Citadel.
U.S. District Judge C. Weston Houck delayed a trial on an alternative program the state had proposed as a way to keep Faulkner out of the all-male state military college. That means the only way the Citadel can keep Faulkner out of the corps is to get a higher court to block her entrance.
Citadel officials said last week they expected to have to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to keep Faulkner from becoming a cadet.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in Richmond, ruled in April that Faulkner must be allowed to become a cadet in August unless a court-approved alternative program is in place.
The state finally proposed in June to create a $10 million women's program at Converse College, 140 miles away in Spartanburg, S.C. Faulkner's attorneys challenged the plan, saying ``separate but equal'' education is unconstitutional.
Virginia, which has the only other state-supported, all-male military college, is creating a women's leadership program at Mary Baldwin College to keep women out of Virginia Military Institute.
The 4th Circuit has approved the Mary Baldwin program although the U.S. Justice Department has appealed to the Supreme Court.
KEYWORDS: CITADEL by CNB