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VMI: Women’s Soccer Team Endures

At the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) where women comprise just six percent of 1,324 cadets, the school’s first women’s soccer team (and first women’s sports team) is standing strong. Facing obstacles like a 15 percent drop out rate among female first-year cadets, ten of the 11 players have pledged to continue riding out a rough year. “We all miss home,” the players told Coach Julie Davis, according to The Washington Post. “We’re all scared, but we’re not running away.”

The team members are aiming to raise VMI’s representation of women closer to 10 percent, towards compliance with Title IX regulations. In 1996, the Supreme CourtÑ- ordering that women be admitted to the institutionÑ- established 10 percent women’s enrollment as “a sufficient ‘critical mass’ to provide the female cadets with a positive educational experience,” reported the Post.

Sources:

Washington Post 10/22/03; VMI 6/1996; Feminist Daily New Wire

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