By 1994 the fight to keep VMI segregated was doomed and should have ended gracefully - with the admission of women. Instead, new Governor George Allen (in a move foreshadowing his true character) chose to create a separate but equal military training program for women at Mary Baldwin College - the Virginia WomenGÇÖs Institute for Leadership, as an alternative to admitting women to VMI.
In addition to mounting taxpayer costs to advance the VMI court case to the Supreme Court, the Commonwealth would now shoulder additional expense for the womens military program at Mary Baldwin.
Finally in 1996, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled and decided overwhelmingly that VMI was in violation of the Fourteenth AmendmentGÇÖs equal protection clause. As Justice Ginsberg said in her majority opinion, GÇ£VMI denies to women, simply because they are women, full citizenship stature GÇö equal opportunity to aspire, achieve, participate in and contribute to society.GÇ¥
A dark era in VirginiaGÇÖs segregationist history was ended, and we got a first glimpse of Virginia's rising star, George Allen. Allen wasn't done fighting for the cause of segregation. He facilitated an effort to sell the Institute to backers of a privately owned, all-male VMI. The price would be $400,000,000. The fundraising began and was only brought to an abrupt halt when the U.S. Defense Department ruled that it would end ROTC subsidies to the Institute if it remained all-male.
With this beginning, George Allen, posturing at the door to VMI, struck a stance for discrimination in the pursuit of political gain. A stance that seemed odd then, but in hindsight is part of a pattern to pander - with no regard to the public treasury or the legacy of Jefferson.
The villian here was not the Institute, or even the Alum that were emotionally wrapped in keeping the traditions. The villians were polititicians that lacked wisdom, and the courage to lead - George Allen, as Executive, most prominent amongst them.
Legal scholars, and even the common man were well aware that VMI's effort to exclude women at a public school was unconstitutional. It was politically expedient to fight the battle because it catered to the emotions of Alumni and Sentimentalists. That is not valuable leadership.
The Institute has served as a model for service to the nation for 167 years, and produced some of Americas greatest - thats why I'm angry that it was dragged through this mess so long, and so publicly. I am a contributor to the Institute and a Jim Webb supporter.