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

DATE: TUESDAY, May 22, 1990                   TAG: 9005220452
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

COEDS AT VMI

WHEN bad politicians don't want to answer a question, they lie. When mediocre politicians don't, they issue a "no comment." When skillful politicians don't, they answer the question eloquently - but evasively.

Gov. Douglas Wilder is a skillful politician.

Wilder was the commencement speaker Saturday at Virginia Military Institute. VMI, a state school, is currently roiled by criticism of its men-only admissions policy.

The school is owned and operated by the state. Its board of visitors is appointed by the governor. Its admissions policy is being defended by the state attorney general. You'd think the state's chief executive would have an opinion on the matter. Yet on Saturday, the governor talked all around the issue without ever reaching the issue itself.

Wilder, the nation's first (and so far only) elected black governor, said he abhors discrimination. He said he respects the law, and asked the cadets to support the law whatever the outcome of the case might be.

He said he doesn't impose litmus tests on his appointees, and didn't ask four recently reappointed members of the VMI board for their views on coeducation. He said that "VMI should be run by VMI."

Noble-sounding words, those. But what do they mean?

In his view, does the VMI admissions policy constitute discrimination?

The governor wouldn't say.

The governor simply assumes that a Justice Department lawsuit on the issue is cause for him to keep silent regarding his own views. But, apart from the issue of the policy's constitutionality, there remains the question of its wisdom or folly.

And why weren't the the coeducation views of the VMI reappointees of interest to the governor?

The governor seemed to confuse litmus tests - that is, determining the fitness of candidates for appointment on the basis of a single issue - with legitimate inquiries that contribute to a total picture.

As for letting VMI run VMI: If the governor really meant to suggest that the state has only minimal interest in how VMI is operated, then why does it pump nearly $10,000 per cadet per year into running the place?

By all indications, his comment was not meant to shed light on his views. It was nothing more than empty sloganeering.

It did elicit cheers from the crowd, however, which is something skillful politicians do well.

by CNB