In 1990, the United States filed a suit against Virginia and the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) for enforcing an all-male admissions policy. The Supreme Court ruled in 1996 that VMI’s male-only admissions policy lacked an “exceedingly persuasive justification” for violating the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
VMI had attempted to establish a comparable school for women, but in Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s words, it was “a pale shadow of VMI in terms of the range of curricular choices and faculty stature, funding, prestige, alumni support and influence.”
The ruling set a strong precedent for equal opportunity cases for women. In May 2021, VMI welcomed Cadet Casey Meredith as its first woman commander of the Corps of Cadets; the first in the school’s 182-year history.
If you enjoyed this selection of poems, visit the Dicta Interactive Timeline for more.
Attribution: Poetry by ICAAD Artist-in-Residence Harbani Kaur Ahuja; Gallery supported by Dicta sponsor Clifford Chance
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