THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 23, 1996 TAG: 9606230107
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LEXINGTON LENGTH: 31 lines
Officials at Virginia Military Institute and Mary Baldwin College expect the U.S. Supreme Court to rule Monday on whether VMI should be forced to admit women.
Maj. Gen. Josiah Bunting III, superintendent of VMI, has set a news conference for 2 p.m. Monday. Cynthia Tyson, president of Mary Baldwin, which created the Virginia Women's Institute for Leadership as a women's alternative to VMI, plans to hold a 3 p.m. news conference on the ruling.
The VMI Board of Visitors is scheduled to meet next month to discuss the decision.
Officials at both schools said Friday they have been anticipating a ruling for days.
The Supreme Court ruling is expected to end a six-year challenge to the male-only admissions policy at state-supported VMI. The case began in February 1989 when the U.S. Justice Department filed a civil rights complaint against the state and VMI.
The U.S. District Court in Roanoke ruled in June 1991 that single-sex education provides substantial educational benefits. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed in October 1992 but said the state must provide a comparable program for women.
In May 1994, the District Court in Roanoke approved a plan for the women's institute, but the Justice Department continued to challenge VMI and asked the Supreme Court to hear its case. by CNB