ROANOKE TIMES 

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

DATE: FRIDAY, March 4, 1994                   TAG: 9403040237
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MALCOLM W. BRYAN III
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

WHERE WAS JUSTICE FOR 124 YEARS?

THE CONFRONTATION between the U.S. Department of Justice and Virginia, concerning Virginia Military Institute's admission policies, has been much in evidence in the Roanoke Times & World-News. Frankly, I've been puzzled since the dispute began. Although I'm not an alumnus, I have an acute interest in VMI and wish to present a few questions.

According to my encyclopedia, the Department of Justice was established June 22, 1870. If it lasts until June, 124 years will have passed since it was foisted upon the citizenry. VMI was operating in 1870, and no ladies were enrolled then. It was owned by the commonwealth then, as it is now. If the Department of Justice has decided at this late date that all-male VMI is unconstitutional, where has it been for the past century and a quarter? Has the agency been so deficient that this much time has been necessary for its realization of this dreadful injustice?

Or has the Justice Department finally become the tool of the American Civil Liberties Union, National Organization for Women, or other politically correct organizations? If this is the case, how can the department justify paying Alexander Astin $200 per hour of taxpayers' money (I sincerely hope the vouchers have been scrutinized) to present information to the court based upon ignorance of the subjects (Mary Baldwin College and VMI), which he's been brought here to discuss? People from California and other distant places, while they may know much regarding political correctness, generally know little about the ins and outs of our small Virginia institutions of higher learning. The testimony has evinced this.

For instance, James Peterson, lately an instructor at the U.S. Military Academy, laments the fact that Mary Baldwin will not offer ``boxing, football and karate'' as does VMI. In my realm of knowledge, ladies participating in those sports are seen generally on inferior television channels. What variety of lady is the Department of Justice and NOW intending to place at VMI, which has always striven to turn out gentlemen? If it becomes necessary, I'd suppose they'll strive to turn out ladies, albeit it'll become a task. This makes me wonder how much the Justice Department paid Peterson for his expertise.

Since it operates within the executive branch, it just might be constitutional for the Department of Justice to squander the hard-earned tax payments of millions of citizens to further a highly controversial political agenda, but it's surely not conscionable. Is it not true that Virginia's governor, VMI's Board of Visitors and all the witnesses, as taxpayers, are paying the unlimited expenses of their adversaries?

It's my understanding that not one woman applied for admission to VMI for the first 150 years of its existence. Women don't want to attend! They can't tolerate it as it is now. At great expense, its physical plant can be altered, and its carefully contrived ``system'' can be changed. But those who understand VMI will tell you that when that occurs, the end of a unique institution is near.

VMI is under siege by those marching under the senseless flag of political correctness - and we pay their salaries. The situation is ridiculous!

\ Malcolm W. Bryan III of Roanoke is an industrial and truck supplier. 


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