09/07/2006
In a last-ditch effort, they hope board of trustees will uphold all-female tradition.
The roars from the crowd of young women echoed across the grassy hills of Randolph-Macon Woman's College, drawing the interest of passersby.
Now the students along with alumnae of the all-women's college hope the school's governing body hears them, too.
As hints of a potential legal battle emerged, about 200 students, faculty members and alumni rallied on campus yesterday in a last-ditch effort to dissuade the board of trustees from making the college coed.
Richmond-based lawyer Wyatt Durrette, hired by a group of the college's alumnae, sent a letter this week to the board of trustees and the college president, among others, citing legal obstacles posed by the board's imminent vote. The letter says the board does not have authority to make the college coeducational under its own Articles of Incorporation.
The alumnae group, which has organized under the name Preserve Educational Choice, Inc., has raised $30,000 in legal funds from alumnae donations so far, said the group's spokeswoman, Diane Montgomery, a lawyer and R-MWC alumna.
In a statement, interim President Virginia Hill Worden, also an alumna, said the criticism in the letter was "misguided and without foundation," and said the college believes it is on firm legal ground to make such a decision.
"It would appear that the purpose of this letter from the attorney is designed to make the board fearful of personal liability. Such bullying and intimidation cannot change the facts with which the board is grappling," Worden wrote.
The board is expected to vote Saturday on a strategic plan that would allow men to apply for the fall 2007 term. The college has been a women's school since opening in 1893, but R-MWC officials have said it is in financial trouble and believe admitting men would help raise revenue.
Organizers of yesterday's event, which included alumnae and students from the newly-formed Coalition to Preserve Women's Education, said it was intended to rally opponents of the change to the 712-student school and suggest that the financial difficulties could be fixed in other ways.
A series of speakers urged the board to delay its vote until alumnae and students have a chance to present an alternative plan. They also extolled the virtues of women's colleges, and alumnae spoke about their fondness for Randolph-Macon.
"Here we can be ourselves as loud as we like, as strong as we are," said Carolyn Bell, who recently retired after teaching English at the college for 35 years. She also graduated from the college in 1965. Then, paraphrasing singer Helen Reddy, to the loudest cheer of the afternoon: "We are women, hear us roar."
Yellow shirts sold by event organizers spread quickly among students on campus and bore one of the coalition's main slogans -- "Keep RM a WC."
A number of speakers chided the board for a lack of openness, saying it had not released all of its data about the college's financial downturn.
"This is frankly condescending and indecent. It is absolutely no way to treat the Randolph-Macon Woman's College community," said Margaret McKean, a professor of political science at Duke University who has a daughter at the school.
College spokeswoman Brenda Edson said the board has "made a good-faith effort to give out as much information as we can."
Anne Haley, chairwoman of the coalition and a senior studying political science and studio art, said she was pleased with the event's turnout. She said she expects hundreds more to be on campus Saturday for the board's vote.
Alumnae have also planned homecoming weekend to coincide with the trustees' vote to encourage alumnae to come back to the school and participate in reunion events such as a parade and a picnic. They hope it will showcase for the trustees "the positive gifts of our education and sisterhood," said Pat Holden, an alumna from Chesapeake.
Jolley Bruce Christman, president of the board of trustees, said late yesterday that the board still intends to take a vote Saturday, though it is possible a vote could be delayed. She said the vocal opposition exhibited yesterday "doesn't make me question the process that [the board has] gone through."
She also said the board would read a proposal submitted by the coalition to keep the college financially viable by making changes in admissions, outreach and other areas, rather than opening the college to men.
"We know we have really smart alums and students and we know that there are probably some things that they have thought of that we haven't. Whether this proposal addresses in bold ways the challenges of our marketplace which have plagued us really since the 1980s, I don't know yet."
Haley said she knows it's likely that the board will choose in favor of coeducation, "but that doesn't mean that when that vote comes we're going to stop fighting."
BY SHAUN BISHOP
TIMES-DISPATCH, LYNCHBURG
