THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, August 13, 1996 TAG: 9608130311
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: CHARLESTON, S.C. LENGTH: 44 lines
Attorneys resolved most differences over a Citadel plan to admit female cadets after a federal judge, bristling at what he called petty squabbling, sent them to a room Monday to settle the issues.
When they emerged more than four hours later, The Citadel had agreed to change a proposed policy dismissing pregnant cadets. And the U.S. Justice Department backed off a demand that latches and curtains be placed on the rooms of all cadets, not just women's.
``I think you made a tremendous effort . . . and I commend you, even though you had to be ordered to do it,'' U.S. District Judge C. Weston Houck told the attorneys.
The Citadel agreed pregnancy will be treated as a temporary disability, as under federal law. Pregnant cadets will be required to leave when their pregnancies interfere with their training but could return after giving birth.
The Justice Department, concerned that latches only on women's doors was discriminatory, agreed that for security purposes, they should remain.
An exasperated Houck ordered the attorneys out of the courtroom when they started arguing.
``Sit down and discuss these things and then come back, and I want to know how petty your differences are,'' he told them.
Three women are scheduled to arrive on campus Aug. 24. They will be the first to enroll since the college changed its all-male policy in June, two days after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled a similar admissions policy at Virginia Military Institute was unconstitutional.
VMI and The Citadel were the only all-male state military schools in the nation.
The Citadel filed its 21-page plan for accommodating women last week. It includes details of everything from the school's dating policy to steps to prevent sexual harassment.
One step agreed to Monday was banning students from wearing T-shirts with the legend ``1952 Bulldogs and One Bitch,'' said Val Vojdik, one of the attorneys who challenged the all-male policy.
The shirts became popular last year when Shannon Faulkner briefly became the first woman cadet.
KEYWORDS: MILITARY ACADEMIES WOMEN IN THE MILITARY by CNB