THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, November 12, 1996 TAG: 9611120005
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A18 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: 33 lines
The Virginia Military Institute issue is, or was, simple: Can tax dollars be properly spent on a school that educates only young men? The valid issues of tradition and alternative opportunities, in context of the court review, were secondary.
In practice, tax dollars are spent in discriminatory fashion because it is deemed to promote societal good. Non-Catholic citizens often pay for Catholic schools in the form of transportation, books, lab equipment, etc., because Catholic parents contribute to the general tax pot and because such schools alleviate the public-school burden. Indirect taxes go to Virginia private colleges in the form of student reimbursements from the commonwealth.
Taxes pay for the U.S. Marine Corps, which does not allow women in the combat arms: infantry, artillery and armor. The examples of tax-supported exclusionary institutions are legion.
In the VMI case, Justice Ginsberg did not deem tax-supported, single-gender education to promote greater societal good, despite the clear evidence of the enormous contributions made by VMI alumni and the fact that VMI produces military officers at one-tenth the tax cost of the federal academies.
Now the ``band of brothers'' shall include sisters. I believe the issue was decided in part on the basis of a feminist agenda and the distaste Justice Ginsberg has for men-only institutions. VMI fell because the majority of the Supreme Court no longer thought it was ``good.'' In short, this court has made a fashion statement.
GREGORY ROBERT WRIGHT SR.
Virginia Beach, Oct. 30, 1996 by CNB