Monday, August 13, 2007

Retrospective on the first women to graduate from VMI

The Roanoke paper has this interesting story, which says among other things:

"A decade ago, those in favor of keeping VMI all-male predicted that the presence of women would be the demise of the nation's oldest state-supported military school.

VMI today is in the midst of a $300 million capital campaign to renovate its older buildings and update its classrooms to attract the next generation of male and female cadets. It has a strong alumni association and has received millions of dollars in endowment funds to help with efforts such as a new leadership and ethics center that broke ground this summer.

The massive building upgrades include new athletic fields and an addition to the barracks, but won't change the cadet lifestyle of sleeping on fold-up wooden cots in rooms without air conditioning and with bathroom facilities down the hall.

As for the overall acceptance of women, there are still those who think women don't belong at VMI or in the military."

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