<p>College students sue over coed move
10/6/2006
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) A group of students at Randolph-Macon Woman's
College sued the school Friday, challenging its decision to begin
admitting men next fall.
The lawsuit, filed in Lynchburg Circuit Court, claims the 115-year-old
school's governing board breached its contract with the students by
voting to make it coeducational.
The lawsuit, brought by four freshmen, one sophomore and four juniors,
seeks to delay the enrollment of men until at least 2010, when currently
enrolled students should have graduated.
"They're in shellshock," alumna Diane Montgomery said of the college's
approximately 700 students. "They feel their voices are not being heard.
No one told them this college was going to go coed."
Montgomery is secretary of the board of Preserve Educational Choice
Inc., an alumnae group formed to fight the board of trustees' decision
Sept. 9 to adopt coeducation. Administrators have said the decision is
intended to achieve more financial stability.
"I'm saddened that we're in litigation with our own students but
recognize they have the right to do that," Ginger Worden, the college's
interim president, said in an interview.
Worden said the board of trustees is the proper body to make decisions
about the college's future, and added that delaying coeducation until
2010 is impractical.
"How would you recruit a student for next year if you say it's a women's
college now but will be coed your senior year?" she said.
The lawsuit claims that the nine plaintiffs chose Randolph-Macon because
they wanted to obtain a four-year liberal arts college degree from a
women's college and that none of the official materials provided to them
indicated school officials were contemplating a change.</p>
<p>Not sure what contract they could possibly have in mind. I'm assuming the lawsuit is based more on detrimental reliance rather than strictly contract. And that becomes a much harder case to make. I know the students are angry, but I don't see this going anywhere at all.</p>
<p>Since they are getting sued by students for going co-ed, the College should just announce that it's closing its doors after this academic year. That should shut 'em up...or at least maybe open the students eyes to the part of equation they are missing. The College was quite clear in their co-ed report that closing their doors was the only other viable option.</p>