But that single-sex status could ultimately prove to be something of a rub, if anyone ever decides to challenge it. VWIL cadets are part of the Virginia Corps of Cadets, which also includes cadets at VMI and Virginia Tech, yet they are taught by the faculty of a private college. It's hard to tell exactly. Kent Willis, director of the Virginia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, thinks VWIL could be vulnerable to a lawsuit if someone wanted to challenge its state funding or its single-sex status. The U.S. Department of Justice did not respond to requests for an opinion in the matter.
Most officials believe the program resides safely within a gray area.
VWIL is less of a state agency than a program operated by Mary Baldwin for the state by contract. And most of the money the program receives from the state is in the form of tuition subsidies, which are similar to the state Tuition Assistance Grants students at other private colleges receive. Gov. George Allen will unveil Dec. 19, and if it is there, that it will survive a General Assembly budget battle. But VWIL isn't likely to end, even if its state subsidy does. That VWIL will survive in some form, though, seems certain.