FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Students File Lawsuit Against Randolph-Macon Woman's College

Suit demands injunction to stop adoption of coeducation and global honors

October 6, 2006 -- Lynchburg, VA - Nine students filed a joint suit today in the Lynchburg Circuit Court against Randolph-Macon Women's College (R-MWC). The suit claims that the school breached its contract with the students by adopting coeducation and a new curricular focus.

The student plaintiffs are seeking an injunction that will force the school to stop implementing the strategic plan that the college's Board of Trustees voted to adopt on September 9, 2006, until at least 2010, when currently enrolled students have graduated. The strategic plan aims to admit men to the college and change the curriculum to a "global honors" platform by Fall of 2007.

Four of the student plaintiffs are freshmen, one is a sophomore and four are juniors.

The suit claims that plaintiffs chose R-MWC to obtain a four-year liberal arts college degree from a women's college. The students relied on statements made by the school both orally and in writing that the college would provide the women's college environment that it promised. None of the college's official materials, even those distributed to current freshmen only weeks before the trustees vote, indicated that the college was contemplating the transition to a new "global honors" curriculum and coeducation.

The legal issue in this case will be the determination of whether or not a contract exists between students and the school. The filing claims that when students accepted the school's offers of admission, paid tuition and other fees, and registered for classes, a contract was formed between them and the school that included the promise, both express and implied, that if students paid the tuition and fees and enrolled at R-MWC, they would receive a four-year liberal arts education at a women's college.

Given the 115-year history of R-MWC's strict honor code that expels students for lying, students were shocked and disheartened when the school misled them in promising that the school would provide them with a single-sex education.

At a parents' weekend gathering on September 30th with Ginger Worden, a former trustee and the college's interim President, Worden apologized to parents for what had been done to their daughters. One father, apparently unimpressed with Worden's apology, stood up and told the president that if she were truly sorry, "she'd make good on her end of the bargain and postpone the school's transition to coeducation until after these students had graduated." Worden, who had no comment, stood her ground for two hours as parents and students expressed their anger and disappointment in the College's deceptive admissions tactics.

The student lawsuit is being supported by Preserve Educational Choice, Inc., (PEC) which was formed on September 1 to preserve R-MWC as a women's college. PEC maintains that the school's trustees have not only breached their contract with students, but have also disappointed donors who gave to a women's college and tried to place blame on alumnae for the college's demise. At the annual Alumnae Association's Leadership Council in Lynchburg on September 15, Worden told alumnae leadership that the artwork in the R-MWC's Maier Museum would be used as collateral to fund school loans. Worden further commented that if alumnae didn't contribute to the college, it would be the alumnae's fault when the art was sold. Several alumnae raised the issue that using art as collateral rather than the endowment fund would result in a much higher rate of interest on the loan, but the remark was not acknowledged by Worden.

PEC's communications to alumnae assert that R-MWC has been both dismissive of alumnae concerns and has been fiducially irresponsible in how it is adopting the strategic plan. The college's vice president of finance admitted to a room of alumnae at last month's annual Alumnae Council that he had no idea what the actual costs will be for adopting the strategic plan. Since the plan hasn't been defined, this did not come as a shock to the alumnae present.

Ellen Reid Smith, who is PEC's board president, stated that this lawsuit was only the first in a series of lawsuits the group is helping to coordinate against the school on behalf of students, alumnae and donors. PEC is using a network of paid and pro bono counsel to litigate these suits. "Our law firm of DurretteBradshaw, PLC from Richmond who represents the student plaintiffs, has been a godsend to the alumnae and students of Randolph-Macon," said Smith. "Given that the founder and several of the attorneys in this firm attended single-sex colleges, we've never had to explain the intrinsic value of single-sex education. They were 100% onboard with hearts and minds from the very beginning."

Wyatt Durrette, a graduate of Virginia Military Institute and a founder of DurretteBradshaw is lead counsel on the suit. "The adoption of the strategic plan has raised so many legal issues, that we've spent considerable time prioritizing the many legal cases that could be pursued," said Durrette. "It is unfortunate that even one of the suits had to be brought. It could have been avoided if the trustees had only delayed their decision and given all those affected time to address the issue."

Even with today's student suit, PEC members still maintain they didn't want to see anyone sue their alma mater. After unsuccessfully trying to negotiate with trustees, PEC adopted a campaign that gave trustees a simple choice: trustees could choose the carrot or the stick. The group's website at www.PreserveEducationalChoice.org details a list of incentives included in "The Carrot Plan" and indicates that the "The Stick" represents a lack of alumnae support and help in coordinating multiple lawsuits.

"The carrot or stick question is simple," said Smith. "Trustees need only reverse their vote and PEC will stop supporting litigation and will help the school regain its former stature as one of the top women's colleges in the nation."

###

Preserve Educational Choice, Inc. was founded September 1, 2006 as a not-for-profit corporation to pursue all reasonable avenues to preserve the 115-year tradition of Randolph-Macon Woman's College. PEC's board, committee chairwomen, volunteers and supporters consist of R-MWC alumnae, parents and ex-trustees. PEC is using this support to coordinate litigation on behalf of multiple plaintiffs against R-MWC trustees. For more information about Preserve Educational Choice, Inc., see their website at www.PreserveEducationalChoice.org.

DurretteBradshaw, PLC is engaged in complicated legal matters in the national and international arenas. The firm concentrates on four core practice areas: commercial and complex litigation, bankruptcy law, health law and business law. On September 9, 2006, Wyatt B. Durrette, Jr. was selected by his peers as one of 2007's Best Lawyers in America in the area of commercial litigation. More than half of DurretteBradshaw's attorneys have been selected by their peers to be included in Virginia Business magazine's "Legal Elite." The firm has four offices in Virginia and is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. See www.DurretteBradshaw.com.

Return to Press