
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, May 15, 1990                   TAG: 9005150387
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ROANOKE                                LENGTH: Medium

GOVERNMENT CHALLENGES VMI FOUNDATION MOTION

The U.S. Justice Department said Monday that its sex discrimination lawsuit against Virginia Military Institute should stand alone and reiterated that the school's foundation has no business getting involved.

The federal government's opposition to consolidating three lawsuits dealing with VMI's male-only admissions policy means U.S. District Judge Jackson L. Kiser will have to sort out the legal entanglement.

Kiser will hear oral arguments in the case June 4 in U.S. District Court in Roanoke.

John R. Dunne, an assistant U.S. attorney general, submitted a written response Monday to a motion by VMI Foundation Inc. to consolidate its lawsuit with those filed by the U.S. Justice Department and Virginia Attorney General Mary Sue Terry.

The Justice Department filed a sex-discrimination lawsuit against VMI in March that said the state-supported school is violating the Constitution's equal protection clause and the Civil Rights Act by refusing to admit women.

Terry and the private fund-raising organization that manages VMI's $100 million endowment filed separate lawsuits asking the court to declare the admissions policy constitutional.

The foundation filed a motion in April asking the court to consolidate the three lawsuits because all three seek to determine the constitutionality of the males-only policy.

Dunne said the foundation's motion to consolidate was "at best, premature" because the Justice Department has asked the court to dismiss the foundation's lawsuit.

"Further, the foundation's motion should be denied because the foundation is seeking consolidation in an attempt to become involved in a suit to which it would not otherwise qualify," Dunne said.

The foundation has until May 24 to respond to the Justice Department's arguments.

by CNB