Settle Female Cadet Issues, Judge Orders

A federal judge, bristling at what he called petty squabbling, sent attorneys to a room Monday to hammer out differences over a Citadel plan to admit women cadets.

At least three women are expected to enroll next week, but attorneys who challenged the all-male policy object to a plan that would put latches only on women’s rooms and require pregnant cadets to leave school.

“Anything that sets female cadets apart is a source of concern,” Justice Department attorney Michael Maurer told U.S. District Judge C. Weston Houck. “Put latches on all the doors.”

But Houck did not want to rule on such details.

“I don’t think I should meddle with an institution that’s already run by professionals,” he said. “I don’t plan to micromanage what goes on.”

The attorneys met behind closed doors for more than four hours after the judge told them, “I want to know how petty your differences are.”

The hearing was expected to resume late Monday.

The three women will be the first to enroll since the college changed its all-male policy in June, two days after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled a similar all-male policy at Virginia Military Institute was unconstitutional.

The Citadel filed its 21-page plan for accommodating women last week.

Houck said he wants the women treated the same as men except when differences must be considered in providing privacy for bathing and dressing.

The women’s lawyers contend that forcing pregnant cadets to leave school violates federal civil rights laws. They said pregnancy must be treated as a temporary disability.

Houck also refused Monday to vacate his 1994 order in Shannon Faulkner’s case, which declared the Citadel’s all-male policy unconstitutional in a suit brought by the young woman who subsequently dropped out of the school last year. That means the judge retains oversight over admitting women.

“That order is the link between this case and VMI,” Houck said. “This case is not mooted, it continues. There are many issues to be decided.”