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

DATE: THURSDAY, March 28, 1991                   TAG: 9103280421
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MADELYN ROSENBERG/ HIGHER EDUCATION WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

WILDER WON'T TESTIFY/ VMI OPINION NOT VITAL, JUDGE RULES

Gov. Douglas Wilder will not have to testify next week in a trial that will determine if Virginia Military Institute's all-male admissions policy is constitutional, a federal judge ruled Wednesday.

"Governor Wilder's opinion carries a practical weight and a political weight, but as far as a legal weight, it has no more than yours, mine or anyone's in this courtroom," U.S. District Judge Jackson Kiser told Judith Keith, a federal lawyer.

Keith had asked that the governor testify on the state's interest in having a public college that does not admit women.

"The governor is the chief executive officer," she said Wednesday at the last hearing before the trial begins on April 4. "He is clearly the person to speak as to what statewide policies are and as to the state's interest."

But James Dunbar, Wilder's attorney, said the governor has no firsthand knowledge of how the institution runs or of a policy that was in place 150 years before he was voted into office.

"It would be senseless and useless to burden a public servant's time when he doesn't have the facts that will help you resolve this case," Dunbar said. "Like any governor, his time is precious."

VMI attorney Robert Patterson accused the Justice Department of trying to call Wilder to the stand to politicize the case.

"Since the beginning of this, the U.S. government has sought to make this a political issue and not a constitutional one," he said. "VMI's case should not be prejudiced by political posturing by the Department of Justice."

Keith denied the accusation. She said she wanted to call a witness who would be able to discuss diversity in higher education and whether VMI has contributed to this diversity.

After Kiser granted the motion to dismiss Wilder, he granted Keith's request that her department be allowed to examine the need for calling another witness to represent the state, possibly Gordon Davies, executive director of the State Council of Higher Education.

Kiser had said earlier this month that Wilder's opinion on the admissions policy is irrelevant, and ruled that the governor had no power over the admissions policy at VMI.

But Wilder would play an instrumental role in the transition to a coed campus if VMI loses and its admissions policy is altered, he said.

The Justice Department filed suit against VMI last year, saying that the school's policy violated the 14th Amendment and the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The trial is scheduled to take four days, but Kiser said Wednesday that it could take longer.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

by CNB