THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, June 27, 1996 TAG: 9606270368
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A11 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAN CASEY AND JENNIFER MILLER, LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: LEXINGTON LENGTH: 100 lines
Casey and Lacy, both Belgian thoroughbreds, clopped lazily past quaint buildings, pulling a buggy full of tourists past Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson's house.
Robert ``Bob'' Wayland, 90, rocked slowly on his front porch along Washington Street.
Over on the campus of Washington & Lee University, Carol Watson and Regine Artis guided their toddlers down the shady paths outside Lee Chapel.
And next door at the Virginia Military Institute, lacrosse campers honed their skills on the sunny parade grounds.
It was decision day for the all-male, 157-year-old VMI. On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the state-supported military college to break with its single-sex tradition.
But pandemonium didn't break out. Cadets in summer school quietly stayed in their classes. And VMI's fortress-like stone barracks didn't come tumbling down.
Except for a gentle buzz that slowly worked its way up the narrow streets, through cafes and shops, Wednesday was just another Lexington summer day.
Of course, lots of folks had an opinion, which was no surprise: The issue has captivated Lexington since 1990.
For six years, single-sex education has become a conversation-starter for the city's 7,100 residents. Some have become mini-experts on law and lore, rattling off case titles like the names of popular movies and speculating how the justices would decide.
Wayland, who has lived among the city's 2.5 square miles of red brick buildings for 56 years, shrugged when he heard the news.
``I don't think it'll change a durn bit,'' Wayland laughed. ``They're just making it legal now. (Girls) have been sneaking in there for years - after the moon goes up and the sun comes down.''
On the VMI campus, the few cadets around for summer school were taking the decision the way a sick child faces another spoonful of castor oil: They will swallow it but not because they want to.
``It was something everyone was expecting, but nobody wanted to hear it,'' said First classman Raynor Roberts of Baltimore, Md. ``It's like going home, knowing that you did something wrong and you are going to be punished. You just got to face up to it although you don't want to.''
``My dad is going to be hot,'' said First classman Brian Martin from Virginia Beach. His father is a 1971 VMI grad, and Martin's younger brother Matthew is scheduled to attend the 1,300-cadet college in the fall.
``I'll still go,'' Matthew Martin said from Virginia Beach. ``The school still has all the honor and tradition. If I would have known coming in, I'd probably have picked another school. But women aren't going to have that big of an effect.''
``Part of the tradition may change, like the rat line, but you kind of accept it and move on.'' said Second classman Jonathan Charbonnet of King George, Va.
Off campus, men treated the ruling much like Wayland did. ``I think it's about time,'' said Tom Osella, manager of the Healthy Foods Market on Washington Street, who graduated from Washington & Lee in 1985 - the year that private university went co-ed. ``I think it's had a good effect on W&L.''
``I believe the women should be admitted,'' said Larry Hartless, who works in VMI's mess hall. ``They're in the Army, Navy and everything else.''
Somewhat surprisingly, it was women in and around Lexington who seemed most put off at the prospect of women marching in VMI's gray wool uniforms.
``It's not unexpected, but very upsetting,'' said Gail Swink, manager of University Sportwear, where ``Save the Males'' T-shirts sold out weeks ago. ``I just wanted it to stay all male. There's a need for that type of institution.''
``I think the ruling stinks,'' said Nola Jones of Roanoke, who was sight-seeing on campus. ``They need to leave some things alone.''
``No! Really? No, no,'' said Regine Artis, whose husband is a VMI staff sergeant. ``I cannot imagine a woman going through the same thing a male (cadet) goes through. They might have to have different standards.''
``I'm in favor of single-sex schools,'' said Courtney Baker, Lexington's commissioner of revenue. ``I went to one, my husband went to one, and all my children went to them. There are already plenty of co-ed schools. I don't know why we need another.''
Some cadets - such as Roberts, who came to VMI because it was all-male - worry that women will feel isolated.
That thought was echoed by Maj. Gen. Josiah Bunting, VMI's superintendent, during an afternoon news conference before a crush of print and television reporters.
The male to female ratio ``is going to be really off-set,'' Roberts said. ``I see the girls being really uncomfortable around a lot of guys.''
When VMI admitted blacks in 1970, he noted, they were far outnumbered by white cadets. There is no apparent tension between the races today, but the ratio is still unbalanced, he added.
However, Col. Peter Hoadley, a VMI civil engineering professor, doubts co-education will have a major impact.
``Bridges are still going to be bridges. A concrete building is still a concrete building,'' he said. ``The structures will be the same if there are both men and women.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kevin Henderson, a 3rd classman at Virginia Military Institute,
gestures to the ``Save the Males'' T-shirt put up by his roommates
after they learned of the Supreme Court decision. Cadets on campus
for summer school quietly went about their business Wednesday.
KEYWORDS: MILITARY ACADEMIES VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE
U.S. SUPREME COURT RULING by CNB