THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 22, 1996 TAG: 9609220026
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF AND WIRE REPORT
DATELINE: LEXINGTON LENGTH: 105 lines
A deeply divided board at Virginia Military Institute, forced to act by a Supreme Court ruling, voted Saturday to end 157 years as an all-male academy and to admit women beginning in fall 1997. The vote was 9 to 8.
While The Citadel in South Carolina decided in just two days to go along with the high court's decision - and has four female cadets this year - VMI had put off acting while it weighed the possibility of going private to preserve its traditions and discipline.
Both Gov. George F. Allen and state legislators had urged VMI to go along with the court's ruling. But most alumni strongly opposed allowing women into the school in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
``It's been a very emotional and serious thing to all VMI alumni,'' said Vincent J. Thomas, a former Norfolk mayor who has served as president of the VMI Alumni Association and president of the VMI Board of Visitors. ``But VMI has a long reputation of service to the commonwealth and the nation. We still have a lot to give, and will do so in the future, in accordance with the dictates of the law.''
It will not be easy for VMI to make the change, Thomas said.
``This is difficult for VMI, and we need understanding and patience to allow us to fulfill our duty, as we have always done.''
Some others were less hopeful.
``It's a sad day for VMI. It's a sad day for the state and it's a sad day for the nation as far as I'm concerned,'' said Robert Patterson, a 1943 graduate and lead attorney for the legal effort to exclude women.
Jabari Craddock, a 19-year-old junior, said many cadets were saddened to see the tradition end.
``One day when I start a family, and my son comes to me and says, `Hey pops, I want to attend an all-male military institute like you did,' I'll say, `Son, I'm sorry, there are no more of them left,' '' Craddock said.
But senior cadet Brian Bagwan, 22, said there would be ``no fundamental change. . . . If we can weather the Civil War, we can weather this.''
If VMI had decided to go private rather than admit women on equal footing with men, the school would have had to raise a minimum endowment of $200 million to generate the $10 million in annual operating funds now supplied by the state, according to VMI Superintendent Josiah Bunting III.
The alumni also might have had to buy the campus, valued at $137 million.
VMI Board President William Berry said the panel voted its head over its heart. ``There is no question the sentiment of the board - 100 percent is that we would prefer for VMI to remain all male and state supported.''
``This is not a decision that we made easily,'' Berry said, ``but we shall welcome the women who come here ready to meet the rigorous challenges that produce the nation's finest citizen soldiers.''
He said admissions information will be sent immediately to about 80 young women who have inquired about enrolling.
Board member Anita Blair, who voted against coeducation and wore a button that read ``Go Private,'' said the school now stands to lose its ``distinctive, attractive educational niche.''
At the heart of that uniqueness is VMI's method of training young men under harsh, demanding conditions.
First-year cadets live in spartan barracks that offer little privacy, rise before the sun, observe rigid timetables and march single-file everywhere they go on campus.
They are also exposed to the ``rat line,'' comparable in intensity to Marine boot camp, where they are tormented by older cadets.
The only changes VMI will make to the barracks will be to protect ``basic human physical decency,'' such as building a separate shower for women and putting curtains on the windows.
``Female cadets will be treated precisely as we treat male cadets,'' Bunting said. Otherwise, ``fully qualified women would themselves feel demeaned.''
VMI tried to get around earlier court orders to admit women by offering a military-style leadership program at Mary Baldwin College, a private women's school in nearby Staunton. U.S. District Judge Jackson Kiser approved that idea but the Justice Department attacked the program as being as unequal and unconstitutional as racial segregation.
But Saturday's decision likely will not have an immediate effect on the Virginia Women's Institute for Leadership, the alternative program at Mary Baldwin. The second freshman class, 47 women, began this fall.
Mary Baldwin spokeswoman Crista R. Cabe said Saturday there were no plans to end the program.
``We still believe very firmly in the benefits of our program,'' she said. ``We have a great group of students. We've been very, very successful. We're moving forward.''
In question now, however, is what will happen to state funding for the program, now that VMI will be co-ed.
Natalie Weatherburn, 19, a Norfolk resident, just started her freshman year at the Virginia Women's Institute for Leadership program.
Weatherburn said she believes in single-sex education, and feels the decision to admit women to VMI will ``ruin an all-male school.'' She does not want to attend VMI.
``I like Mary Baldwin, and I like the VWIL program,'' she said. ``It's a tradition that I'm helping establish.'' MEMO: This story was compiled from reports by The Associated Press, The
Washington Post and staff writer Elizabeth Thiel. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
ASSOCIATED PRESS
VMI Superintendent Josiah Bunting III and board president William
Berry, right, announce the 9-8 vote to end 157 years as an all-male
academy.
KEYWORDS: VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE MILITARY ACADEMIES
WOMEN IN THE MILITARY by CNB