Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 9, 1993 TAG: 9311100255
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CAROLE L. ANDERSON
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
This ``creative solution,'' of course, is what was called for by the federal Court of Appeals in Richmond with regard to the suit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice against VMI. As almost every American now knows, VMI provides - at the state's expense - a privileged education to a select number of Virginia's young men. It is important to note here that, despite its name, fewer than 15 percent (on average) of VMI's graduates go on to military careers. Instead, they parlay the benefits of the brotherhood developed during the course of this fine, state-subsidized education into leadership positions throughout the state.
Many strong, influential women are adamant that the courts should force VMI to accept female students, arguing that a comparable women's leadership program at Mary Baldwin would constitute something less that equal. Yet that is the point! To paraphrase Dr. Cynthia H. Tyson, president of Mary Baldwin College, the issue is not ``separate but equal,'' but ``different and better'' for all constituencies involved.
There are two clear and separate issues that should define the debate: State dollars for education must be available to all of its qualified citizens, regardless of gender; and women do not prosper in male-dominated, militaristic educational environments.
First, the Virginia Women's Leadership Institute would make available to Virginia's young women the same opportunity to pursue a fine, leadership-driven education on the same financial basis as is available to young men at VMI. Second, for those women who choose to be trained in military activities alongside men, the governor's agreement includes the beefing up of the co-ed ROTC program at Virginia Tech. Finally, by preserving the essence of VMI, which has been such a successful formula for its students, we preserve the right of single-sex institutions to continue to thrive. Approximately 90 such institutions exist: 86 female and four male.
Those who call for the integration of VMI in the name of equal rights must look at the facts. Men and women learn differently; research increasingly confirms this. There is a movement among some public-school jurisdictions to establish segregated classes because girls' performance is dramatically improved when they learn among themselves without the implicit stress of boys' criticism and teachers' propensity to favor boys.
Men and women thrive in different learning environments. A 1992 paper issued by the U.S. General Accounting Office reported the results of reviews on student treatment at the U.S. Military Academy, the U.S. Naval Academy and the U.S. Air Force Academy. It found that hazing had not disappeared from the academies, despite prohibitions against it; that women and minorities had not reached the same level of achievement as white males in a number of areas, although no evidence had been found of systematic efforts to treat them differently; that sexual harassment occurred more frequently than was reported, and there were significant negative consequences to reporting sexual harassment. This evidence suggests that federal academies must evolve into more conducive environments and that alternatives should be found.
The Virginia Women's Leadership Institute envisioned by Mary Baldwin College would have the same goals as does VMI, but the humiliating, demeaning, adversative training would be absent. Research is conclusive that women learn better cooperatively rather than competitively. The leadership program represents an innovative plan for a distinct program, designed by experts in women's leadership education (including military advisers), to use methods known to benefit women.
It is important to remember that graduates of women's colleges are more than twice as likely to receive doctoral degrees than women graduates of co-ed colleges, and that 42 percent of the women members of Congress attended women's colleges. Clearly, women's colleges have an enviable record of helping their graduates attain the academic and leadership abilities necessary to achieve outstanding success in careers and in the public sector.
The Leadership Institute at Mary Baldwin would do even more than that. It would require eight semesters of physical education that would be as demanding as at VMI. Like VMI, the leadership program would prepare its students for achievement in civic life, careers in both the public and private sectors and in the military. Each entering student would participate in a motivational, indoctrination program; each cadet would have four years of ROTC training, as well as summer ROTC camp; and diploma candidates would undertake a course program in leadership, philosophy, ethics, statistics, engineering and such other courses as are requisite for leadership careers in the miltary.
To those who urge the integration of VMI, I say there is a far more productive way to redress its exclusionary policy - a way we can control. We must support this brand-new model for women's military training, a model that would be instrumental also in the advancement of women in business, in professions and other spheres of power. The Virginia Women's Institute for Leadership can move us faster in that direction.
Carole L. Anderson, of Washington, D.C., is a member of Mary Baldwin College's Board of Trustees.
by CNB