CONGRESSMEN'S EFFORTS NOT GETTING VMI TO D.C.

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

DATE: FRIDAY, January 15, 1993                   TAG: 9301150238
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MADELYN ROSENBERG STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
CONGRESSMEN'S EFFORTS NOT GETTING VMI TO D.C.
A half-dozen congressmen have asked the inaugural committee to change its mind and allow Virginia Military Institute to march in President-elect Clinton's parade.
But a spokeswoman for the committee says that isn't likely to happen.
On Thursday, just six days before the event, Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke, and Rep. L.F. Payne, D-Nelson County, had a letter hand-delivered to Clinton's inaugural committee and to the congressional liaison office.
The letter speaks of VMI graduates who have served the country for 153 years and the school's long tradition of marching in "a uniquely American experience. . . . The graduates of the Virginia Military Institute have been protectors of our democracy for over a century and it is fitting that they should be included in this most democratic event."
Sally Aman, a spokeswoman for the inaugural committee, said Thursday evening that she understood some people were disappointed, but that the more than 500 applicants had to be narrowed to 125. "And that list is final."
Payne graduated from VMI in 1967, though his Jan. 14 letter does not make reference to his school ties.
Lt. Col. Mike Strickler, VMI spokesman, said Payne called the Lexington school this month. In that call he expressed regret that VMI, which had sent cadets to march in the parade for all but two inaugurations since 1949, would not be offered an invitation to Clinton's "An American Revolution: New Beginnings, New Hope."
He told VMI he wanted to make one more attempt at nabbing an invitation.
Goodlatte phoned the school this week and told the provost he planned to write to Clinton.
"We mentioned Payne's initiative, and I guess they got together," Strickler said.
He said VMI "has no objection to either initiative," but that the school would not be petitioning for its own invitation. "We're planning our own ceremony," Strickler said.
At noon on Wednesday, the cadets will get in formation and, following remarks from Maj. Gen. John Knapp, the band will play "Hail to the Chief."
Some alumni had felt the school's court battle to keep the school all male was at the heart of the decision of the committee, which is aiming for a diverse parade. Members of the committee have said that is not why the college was excluded.
The inaugural committee chose two representatives from Virginia for the parade, the Denbigh High School Marching Patriots and the horse-drawn caisson platoon of the Old Guard from Fort Myer.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB