ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, February 25, 1996 TAG: 9602260065
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
MEMO: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.
Virginia Military Institute could readily raise the money needed to become a private college if the U.S. Supreme Court rejects its all-male policy, Superintendent Josiah Bunting III says.
The VMI Board of Visitors will meet July 11 to discuss the court's ruling, which Bunting expects between June 20 and July 1.
After two federal trials and two rounds in the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, VMI argued its case before the high court Jan. 17 for remaining all-male.
VMI and South Carolina's The Citadel are the only state-supported, all-male military schools in the nation.
Bunting, a VMI alumnus who became superintendent in August, said the best outcome VMI can expect from the justices is a 4-4 vote. (Only eight justices will vote: Justice Clarence Thomas' son attends VMI, so Thomas will abstain.) A tie would uphold an appeals court ruling allowing VMI to remain all-male and support an alternative leadership program for women at Mary Baldwin College.
A ruling against VMI ``is not a likely outcome, in my view,'' Bunting said Friday at the Virginia Associated Press Newspapers annual meeting.
Bunting said that if the Supreme Court rules against VMI, and the board makes an attempt to go private, the college would have to raise $150 million to $200 million for an endowment.
Revenue from the endowment would replace the approximately $9 million the state allocates every year to VMI, which is about a third of its operating budget.
Asked how feasible it would be to increase the endowment from its current level, $180 million, to $330 million or $380 million, Bunting said, ``I could do it in 10 phone calls.''
Because the state owns the Lexington campus, the General Assembly would have to allow VMI to continue using the buildings for the switch to a private school to work, VMI spokesman Mike Strickler said.
Bunting said he could not speculate on what the board might do or what support the General Assembly would give.
Even though VMI could raise the money needed to become a private college, Bunting said, ``I don't think it will be the optimal decision for us.''
If VMI were private, in-state tuition likely would jump from about $9,000 to more than $15,000, he said.
Bunting said he expects the Supreme Court to rule in one of three ways: allow VMI to remain all-male; require changes in the alternative program for women under way at Mary Baldwin College; or forbid the state from using taxpayers' money to support VMI.
``If they rule in the last way,'' Bunting said, ``we will either comply immediately or it may be that we consider taking the school private. I pray that the court will see it our way.''
LENGTH: Medium: 59 linesby CNB