DATE: Tuesday, August 26, 1997              TAG: 9708260343

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A7   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS

DATELINE: LEXINGTON                         LENGTH:   26 lines

SECOND WOMAN, 3 MORE MEN QUIT VMI BEFORE ``HELL NIGHT''

The first coed class at Virginia Military Institute lost a second woman and three more men shortly before ``hell night,'' when cadets were awakened around midnight Sunday and exercised as a group.

``They got a tough, physical workout,'' VMI spokesman Mike Strickler said Monday.

The departures Sunday night left 28 women and 407 men in the freshman class. One woman and 23 men left earlier in the week.

The 158-year-old public college has declined to identify the students or say what reasons they gave for quitting.

The dropout rate in the first week, 5.4 percent, is slightly higher than the average rate during the period over the past 11 years, 4.7 percent.

Classes begin today, and Strickler said the mental and physical harassment of cadets drops off as students attend classes during the day and are allowed to study at night. KEYWORDS: VMI

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