CITADEL CONCEDES TO COURT, WILL ADMIT WOMEN.Byline: Michael Janofsky The New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times In a quick response to a Supreme Court ruling earlier this week that the Virginia Military Institute Virginia Military Institute (VMI), at Lexington; state supported; chartered and opened 1839 as the first state military college in the United States. Although one of the leading U.S. must either admit women or not accept public money, the United States' only other state-supported, all-male military college, The Citadel, said Friday that it would admit women. The Citadel's governing board Noun 1. governing board - a board that manages the affairs of an institution board - a committee having supervisory powers; "the board has seven members" , the Board of Visitors, voted unanimously to eliminate the consideration of a person's sex as a requirement for admission, ending a 154-year tradition of admitting only men to the college in Charleston, S.C. ``Effective immediately, The Citadel will enthusiastically accept qualified female applicants into the Corps of Cadets Corps of Cadets may refer to:
A spokesman for The Citadel, Col. Terry Leedom, said the college, which receives about $13 million a year from South Carolina South Carolina, state of the SE United States. It is bordered by North Carolina (N), the Atlantic Ocean (SE), and Georgia (SW). Facts and Figures Area, 31,055 sq mi (80,432 sq km). Pop. (2000) 4,012,012, a 15. , has 1,291 applications from men for the 1996-97 academic year, and four from women. He declined to predict whether Friday's decision would attract more female applicants. In a typical year he added the college accepts from 650 to 700 freshmen. A spokesman for VMI VMI Virginia Military Institute VMI Vendor Managed Inventory VMI Vertical Motion Index VMI Valtakunnan Metsien Inventointi (Finnish: National Forest Inventory) VMI Video Module Interface , Mike Strickler, said its Board of Visitors was scheduled to discuss the Supreme Court decision at its next meeting July 12, when the board would consider options that include privatizing or admitting women and keeping the $10.3 million that VMI receives annually from Virginia. The decision by The Citadel board follows a protracted pro·tract tr.v. pro·tract·ed, pro·tract·ing, pro·tracts 1. To draw out or lengthen in time; prolong: disputants who needlessly protracted the negotiations. 2. legal battle to break the men-only admissions policy. The last fight pitted the college against Shannon Faulkner Shannon Faulkner, born in Powdersville, South Carolina, United States, was the first female cadet to enter The Citadel. Faulkner enrolled after a successful lawsuit against the military academy. She joined an otherwise all-male class on August 15, 1995. , a woman from Powdersville, S.C., who sued The Citadel in 1993, seeking to become a first-year ``knob.'' In August she prevailed in her legal case and, under a federal court order, became the first woman to march alongside men at The Citadel. But less than a week after she began her orientation, she dropped out after suffering from heat sickness and stress. On Friday one of the lawyers who represented Faulkner hailed The Citadel's decision, calling it ``a stunning victory for women in South Carolina and the nation.'' The lawyer, Val Vojdik, who now teaches at New York University New York University, mainly in New York City; coeducational; chartered 1831, opened 1832 as the Univ. of the City of New York, renamed 1896. It comprises 13 schools and colleges, maintaining 4 main centers (including the Medical Center) in the city, as well as the Law School, declared: ``The Citadel did the right thing in a way that welcomes women. I'm confident that the admission of women will really improve the school and continue its tradition of excellence, and I'm very pleased the school acted as quickly as it did. That's a good sign there will be a successful integration of women at the school.'' Although Faulkner dropped out, a lawsuit against The Citadel continued in a federal district court, with Nancy Mellette, a 17-year-old student from Irmo, S.C., and a sister of a 1996 Citadel graduate, replacing Faulkner as the plaintiff. Leedom said that before the Supreme Court's ruling in the Virginia case, lawyers for The Citadel were prepared to continue fighting Mellette's case, even after she had notified the college that she might enter the U.S. Military Academy Prep School in Fort Monmouth Fort Monmouth is a United States Army installation in Eatontown, Tinton Falls and Oceanport, New Jersey, and about one mile from the Atlantic Ocean. The base covers nearly 1,126 acres of land, from the Shrewsbury River west to Route 35, called Main Post. , N.J., this fall. But the court's 7-1 ruling Wednesday that Virginia cannot justify keeping women out of a state-supported institution virtually made The Citadel's case moot, he said. ``The court spoke as loudly and clearly as it possibly could,'' Leedom said. ``That's now the law of the land, and we didn't want to go through with more delays that would not have fit into the spirit of the ruling. So we're doing it.'' |
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