The United States sued the Commonwealth of Virginia challenging the
state's maintenance of a military institute exclusively for males. The U.
S. District Court ruled for Virginia and the United States appealed to the U.S. Court of
Appeals. The Court of Appeals held that: l)Virginia had failed to
articulate an important objective which supports the maintenance of this educational opportunity
for men only, therefore 2)we remand the case to the district court to
require the Commonwealth of Virginia to formulate, adopt, and implement a plan that
conforms to the principles of equal protection but 3) we do not order that
women be admitted to V.M.I. if adequate alternatives are available.