United States v. Virginia

The last two state-supported all-male colleges were forced to admit women or forego state funding.

The U.S. Supreme Court has long grouped race, national origin, and religion as "inherently suspect" classifications for Fourteenth Amendment purposes--meaning that any legislation targeting these groups must pass a "strict scrutiny" test. This test determines if the proposed law serves a compelling state interest that cannot be served by any other means. Legislation discriminated on the basis of sex, however, has never been found inherently suspect by the Court.

In 1995, it seemed this might change. President Bill Clinton instructed his administration to file a brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to use United States v. Commonwealth of Virginia "as a vehicle for declaring that government actions that discriminate on the basis of sex should be subject to the same strict constitutional scrutiny the Court applies to official distinctions on the basis of race."

Virginia governor L. Douglas Wilder had said that the refusal of the Virginia Military Institute (V.M.I.) to admit women offended his "personal philosophy." He added that "no person should be denied admittance to a state-supported school because of his or her gender." Since he agreed to abide by the court decision, he did not participate in the suit. The state attorney general, also agreeing to abide by the court's ruling, withdrew as well--leaving a pro bono counsel to seek a "stay of proceedings" on behalf of Virginia and the governor.