THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 13, 1997 TAG: 9702130001
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A20 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Opinion
SOURCE: By BRENDA L. BRYANT
LENGTH: 54 lines
General Assembly conferees are expected to meet this week to resolve differences in budget proposals by the House of Delegates and the Senate. Currently, the Senate budget contains financial assistance for Virginia Women's Institute for Leadership cadets currently enrolled as well as for future enrollees, while the House budget calls for phasing out funding for the program.
The commonwealth of Virginia has a unique opportunity to invest in the education of young women. The Virginia Women's Institute for Leadership, which for two years served as an alternative to coeducation at Virginia Military Institute, now exists as an option for women in the commonwealth who are committed to the development of their leadership skills and who value the preparation offered them through military training.
The VWIL option is essential. Never before has a program of this type been designed by and for women. Never before have women been given the opportunity to produce a comprehensive educational prototype that not only is well-grounded in research but imbued with the talents and priorities for action that emanate from a community of powerful women.
Surely the commonwealth of Virginia will not say to young women that the only route to leadership development, including military training, is through a door that was until recently marked ``men only.'' Surely we will embrace the opportunity to innovate and to continue to lead the nation with the only all-female corps of cadets. Surely we in the commonwealth of Virginia recognize that the contribution of women leaders, increasingly significant in numbers and force, is enhanced by the college education they receive - an education dedicated to the future and augmented by the capacity of single-gender programs such as the one at Mary Baldwin College.
There are practical reasons for believing that our legislators will do the right thing. First, the program is getting results. Women in the program attest firmly and convincingly to its importance and effectiveness as do faculty members, advisers and experts in the field of leadership education. Second, VWIL is a lower cost alternative than VMI and enjoys significant private support to stretch the state's dollars. Third, the modest investment of the state to date is maximized by seeing the program through its start-up years. If given the chance, VWIL can be expected to become a model of excellence that is widely adopted by sister and brother institutions similarly devoted to rigor, strength of character and a focus on the success of its graduates.
While coeducation often is the right choice for educating our citizens, in recent months we have seen the occasional and serious failures of coeducation in confrontational-style training programs that rely on the flawless functioning of the chain of command. There is a bold and exciting option for women in the Virginia Women's Institute for Leadership. Let us invest in young women as a top priority, not as a last ditch effort to preserve a tradition they did not create and do not share.