THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Tuesday, December 5, 1995              TAG: 9512050333
SECTION: FRONT                    PAGE: A2   EDITION: FINAL 
DATELINE: RICHMOND                           LENGTH: Short :   27 lines

17 FEMALE OFFICERS FILE BRIEF OPPOSING MALE-ONLY VMI RULE

Seventeen female military officers have sided with the U.S. Justice Department against Virginia Military Institute's males-only admissions policy.

The women have filed a legal brief on behalf of the Justice Department, which will argue before the U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 17 that the state-supported, Lexington school should be coeducational.

The group includes two retired generals and six graduates of West Point's first coeducational class.

Army Lt. Col. Rhonda Cornum, a former prisoner of war in the Persian Gulf War, is among the female officers who signed the brief.

Others include retired Army Brig. Gen. Evelyn P. Foote, a Vietnam veteran who served as commanding general at Fort Belvoir, and Kristine Holderied, who graduated at the top of her Naval Academy class in 1984. by CNB