Faulkner v. Jones
| Decision Date | 22 July 1994 |
| Docket Number | Civ. A. No. 2:93-488-2. |
| Citation | 858 F. Supp. 552 |
| Parties | Shannon Richey FAULKNER, Individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, Plaintiff, and the United States of America, Plaintiff-Intervenor, v. James E. JONES, Jr., Chairman, Board of Visitors of the Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina, Carroll A. Campbell, Governor of the State of South Carolina, T. Eston Marchant, Adjutant General of the State of South Carolina, Barbara S. Nielsen, Superintendent of Education of the State of South Carolina, William F. Prioleau, Jr., William E. Jenkinson, III, Leonard C. Fulghum, Jr., James M. Leland, Jr., John A. McAllister, Jr., David S. Boyd, Jr., Julian G. Frasier, III, James W. Bradin, Larry J. Ferguson, and Steven D. Peper, Members of the Board of Visitors of the Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina, Wallace I. West, Jr., Director of Admissions and Recruiting at the Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina, Claudius E. Watts, III, President of the Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina, in their official capacities, Defendants, and the State of South Carolina, The Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina, and the Board of Visitors of the Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina, Added Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of South Carolina |
Robert Ray Black, Charleston, SC, Suzanne Elizabeth Coe, Greenville, SC, Henry Weisburg, Valorie K. Vojdik, Shearman & Sterling, New York City, Sara L. Mandelbaum, American Civ. Liberties Union, Thomas F. Swift, Mary K. Warren, Shearman & Sterling, New York City, for Shannon Richey Faulkner.
Nathaniel Douglas, Sandra Lynn Beber, Janet Reno, James P. Turner, Nathaniel Douglas, Chief, U.S. Dept. of Justice, Civ. Rights Div., Educational Opportunities Litigation Section, Washington, DC, for U.S.
Morris Dawes Cooke, Jr., Barnwell, Whaley, Patterson & Helms, Charleston, SC, Robert H. Patterson, Anne Marie Wittemore, McGuire, Woods, Battle & Boothe, Richmond, VA, Dwight J. Davis, Griffin B. Bell, William Clineburg, King & Spalding, Atlanta, GA, for James E. Jones, Jr.
Morris Dawes Cooke, Jr., Barnwell, Whaley, Patterson & Helms, Charleston, SC, for Carroll A. Campbell, Jr., T. Eston Marchant, Barbara S. Nielsen, William F. Prioleau, Jr., William E. Jenkinson, III, Leonard C. Fulghum, Jr., James M. Leland, Jr., John A. McAllister, Jr., David S. Boyd, Jr., Julian G. Frasier, III, James W. Bradin, Larry J. Ferguson, Steven D. Peper, Wallace I. West, Jr., and Claudius E. Watts, III.
Margaret Allison Snead, Joseph C. Wilson, IV, Hood Law Firm, Robert H. Hood, Robert H. Hood & Associates, Charleston, SC, for State of S.C.
Frank B. Atkinson, McGuire, Woods, Battle & Boothe, Richmond, VA, for The Citadel, The Military College of S.C., and The Bd. of Visitors of the Citadel, The Military College of S.C.
FINDINGS OF FACT CONCLUSIONS OF LAW AND ORDER
The Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina, was established by the State of South Carolina in 1842. Since that time the school's primary mission has been "to educate male undergraduates as members of the South Carolina Corps of Cadets (Corps or Corps of Cadets) and to prepare them for post-graduate positions of leadership through academic programs of recognized excellence supported by the best features of a disciplined military environment."1 No women have ever been admitted to the Corps of Cadets, and Shannon Richey Faulkner (Faulkner) is the first of her sex to have her application processed. Her application to be admitted to the Corps in the Fall of 1993 was initially accepted, but then rejected when The Citadel learned that she is a woman. The plaintiff on March 2, 1993, then instituted this action against the members of the Board of Visitors of The Citadel, Wallace I. West, Jr., Director of Admissions and Recruiting at The Citadel, and Claudius E. Watts, III, President of The Citadel, claiming that the males only admission policy of The Citadel denies her equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. In her complaint Faulkner seeks a permanent injunction against the defendants from discriminating against her on the basis of sex and requiring her immediate admission to The Citadel's Corps of Cadets.
On June 7, 1993, the United States of America was permitted to intervene as a plaintiff, and the State of South Carolina, The Citadel, and The Citadel's Board of Visitors were added as defendants. The government also challenges the failure of The Citadel to admit women to the Corps and asks that said practice be enjoined so that all qualified women will be allowed to be members of the Corps of Cadets.
At the same time this action was getting underway, there was pending in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia a closely related case instituted by the United States of America against Virginia Military Institute. Virginia Military Institute is also a public institution of higher learning open only to males whose primary mission and educational methods are almost identical to The Citadel's, and the government's suit against that institution challenged the constitutionality of its males only admission policy and raised the identical issues presented in the instant litigation.2 In deciding VMI3 the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals reached the following conclusions:
VMI, 976 F.2d at 899. The Fourth Circuit then remanded the case to the district court so that it could "require the defendants to formulate, adopt, and implement a plan that conforms with the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment." Id. at 900.
On May 28, 1993, the plaintiffs filed a motion for summary judgment in this action. In that motion they claimed, in essence, that the law of VMI applied to this case and that discovery had established without question that the only way the defendants can remedy the violation of Faulkner's constitutional rights is to admit her to the Corps of Cadets. The plaintiffs, therefore, ask that the court issue an order requiring the defendants to admit Faulkner to the Corps without delay.
In response to said motion the defendants agree that VMI applies to this case, but they claim that, unlike Virginia, South Carolina can justify the all male admissions policy of The Citadel by articulating an important policy that substantially supports offering the unique benefits of a Citadel-type education to men and not to women.4 The defendants, therefore, argue that Faulkner's constitutional rights have not been violated and no remedial action is necessary.
In light of this, the court saw no reason to retry all of the issues addressed in VMI. Instead, it chose to try only justification, the only issue that the defendants claim separates them from VMI, and remedy, the only issue that remains if VMI does apply.5
The trial of those two issues commenced on May 16, 1994, and concluded on May 27, 1994. Subsequently, the parties filed their final briefs and other supporting documents with the court and final arguments were heard. The court has now given careful consideration to the trial evidence and all other matters appropriately before it and pursuant to Rule 52 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure now publishes the following Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law.
1. Faulkner is a 19 year old female who is a resident and citizen of the State of South Carolina. Her home is in Powdersville, South Carolina, where she attended Wren High School and was a 1993 honor graduate. In January 1993, Faulkner applied to be admitted to the Corps of Cadets at The Citadel. She was thereafter advised by Citadel officials that her application had been provisionally accepted and that full acceptance was contingent upon her completion of all high school courses and the submission of a final high school transcript and certain medical and drug testing information. On February 10, 1993, The Citadel wrote Faulkner a letter revoking its acceptance of her application and advising her that she would not be admitted to the Corps of Cadets because of her sex.
2. The defendants admit that, except for her sex, Faulkner is qualified to be a member of the Corps of Cadets.
3. There are twelve public colleges and universities in South Carolina offering four-year degree programs. These institutions are separate and distinct institutions with each having a separate board of trustees or visitors. The University of South Carolina also maintains five two-year regional campuses, and the State of South Carolina provides fifteen public technical colleges within the state.
4. The public institutions of higher learning in South Carolina are located throughout the state, and all citizens of the state have easy and convenient access to one or more institutions. There is considerable duplication in program offerings among the public institutions, but each has its unique features, and the diversity between the institutions and their locations makes each a different experience.
5. All of the institutions of higher education maintained by the State of South Carolina are coeducational except The Citadel. Only Winthrop University and Clemson University have been single-gender institutions in the past fifty years.
Clemson University was founded in 1889 as a land grant college. It was originally an all-male agricultural and military school, but in 19...
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