THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Tuesday, October 15, 1996             TAG: 9610150007
SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A16  EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Letter 
                                            LENGTH:   31 lines

VMI IS NOT A VICTIM OF WHIM

Cynthia Mann's Sept. 30 letter, ``VMI: a victim of whim,'' uses the phrase ``systematic destruction of the single-gender education option by a minority group with a majority vote.''

Virginia Military Institute, or any other educational institution that wants to continue with single-gender education, is still free to do so. All it has to do is obtain funds from private sources. A nation that professes to believe in equality of opportunity for all should not be asked to fund educational institutions for one gender only.

Also, what facts support the statement, ``The last, greatest military school has fallen victim to the whim of a vicious few''? Without any intention to belittle the magnificent achievements of VMI, I have to ask when it was designated as the greatest or the last? The United States Military Academy, the United States Naval Academy, the United States Air Force Academy and the United States Coast Guard Academy are but four of the many other great military schools that come to mind. Or does a military school cease to be classified as ``great'' simply because it stops being a single-gender school?

I believe that women in the U.S. military services have long since proved that they are capable of understanding the concept of ``Duty, Honor, Country.'' Shouldn't they have as much right to government-supported military-school educations as their male relatives?

EDITH N. STRAW

Major, U.S. Army (ret.)

Norfolk, Sept. 30, 1996 by CNB