THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 19, 1996 TAG: 9607190007
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: 30 lines
Our U.S. Constitution was written by our forefathers and amended thereafter as needed for the betterment of the whole. Yet does the application of just a handful of women to VMI really warrant a U.S. Supreme Court ruling to admit women?
The whole argument boils down to state funding. Certainly, it makes no sense for women to pay taxes to support an all-male school. In that case, it must make sense to pay more taxes to finance renovations and extra staff required to admit women.
It appears that VMI will ultimately be forced to admit women and at the same time lose its tradition and prestige. It is a shame that VMI men will no longer experience the same level of vigorous training and discipline that molded their predecessors from young men into leaders. What is the purpose of ruining the structuring of numerous fine young men to better only a few women?
If women's-advocate groups can come together for the cause of fighting VMI, one would think that they could create alternative methods that would benefit all sexes. Perhaps it's because of a lack of consideration and the desire to achieve the means to benefit themselves.
VMI is guaranteed to uphold at least one tradition. All good things must come to an end.
ROBERT R. SMITH
Norfolk, July 14, 1996 by CNB