THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 19, 1996 TAG: 9610190257
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LEXINGTON LENGTH: 35 lines
Virginia Military Institute has its first female applicant, a high school student who can fly a plane and said she'd hoped the Supreme Court wouldn't order the all-male school to admit women.
Now that it has, Brooke A. Elliott, a senior at Poquoson High School, wants to be among them. But she decided to apply only after VMI officials refused to soften the school's training to accommodate women.
``I've always been raised that girls can do anything guys can,'' Elliott, 18, told WDBJ-TV in Roanoke on Thursday. ``I don't think it's right for them to make special exceptions.''
Elliott submitted her application last week.
``At first I didn't want to (apply). I thought females should just go to the (U.S. service) academies,'' she said. ``But I listened to the radio one morning, and they said they were going to hold girls to the same standards as the guys. I went to my guidance counselor that day and got an application.''
The VMI Board of Visitors voted last month to admit women rather than try to turn the school private, as many alumni wanted. About 30 women will be admitted next year. A female admissions officer was hired to recruit women.
More than 200 women have inquired about applying, but Elliott was the first to formally do so. She also has applied to Virginia Tech and the U.S. service academies, and she doesn't have a clear favorite.
``It would depend a lot on scholarships,'' she said.
Elliott is a cadet lieutenant colonel in the Civil Air Patrol and is considering entering the Air Force or Marine Corps. According to her resume, she earned her solo wings in a Cessna 152 in August 1995 and is certified by the state Department of Emergency Services for search-and-rescue missions. by CNB