UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE SIXTH CIRCUIT
OHIO — MICHIGAN — KENTUCKY — TENNESSEE

CHAMBERS OF
HARRY W. WELLFORD
CIRCUIT JUDGE
[address redacted]
MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE 38103

December 7, 1983



Mr. S. L. Kopald, Jr.
[address redacted]
Memphis, Tennessee 38117

Mr. J. Stewart Buxton
[address redacted]
Memphis, Tennessee 38111

Dear Kopie and Stewart:

I have received a letter recently which indicated that the Board
of Trustees is once again considering the changing of the historic
Washington and Lee policy, in view of present circumstances,
so that it may in the future begin admitting females. I have
the difficult job on many occasions of deciding cases that
involve sex discrimination and I recognize this to be an
important problem in our country. At the same time, I think
a private institution has every right to exercise its own
judgment about admission without feeling a sense of guilt where
there are full and adequate other opportunities and facilities
in education for females throughout the mid-Virginia area.

I think in considering these matters, the Board should recognize
that a decision to admit females would certainly have an adverse
affect on Hollins, Mary Baldwin, Sweet Briar and other female
institutions in the near vicinity. This, of course, is not
a compelling consideration, but it is a consideration that
should be kept in view in making a decision.

In view of the recent recognition by other college presidents
of the status of Washington and Lee as an education institution
(see the recent U. S. NEWS AND WORLD REPORT article), I would
hope that the decision would be to follow the traditions and

[pb]

Mr. S. L. Kopald, Jr.
Mr. J. Stewart Buxton
Page 2
December 7, 1983




the history that has brought a great measure of success to our
alma mater. I hope that you may see fit to present these views
to other members of the Board whom I may not know personally.

Yours very sincerely,

[Harry]

HARRY W. WELLFORD

HWW/rb

cc: Honorable Lewis F. Powell, Jr.
Justice
Supreme Court of the United States
[address redacted]
Washington, D. C. 20543

Honorable John Minor Wisdom
Senior U. S. Circuit Judge
[address redacted]
New Orleans, Louisiana 70130

[pb]

December 23, 1983


The Honorable Harry W. Wellford
United States Court of Appeals
for the Sixth Circuit
[address redacted]
Memphis, Tennessee 38103

Dear Judge Wellford:

Mr. Kopald kindly sent me a copy of your letter dated 7 December on
the vexing question of coeducation at Washington and Lee. It is very
valuable to me to have your opinion on this matter. Few alumni have a
better sense of the larger social context in which questions of this
sort inevitably must be fixed.

I believe our decision to re-examine the matter to be based solely
on the question of what will serve to strengthen Washington and Lee in
the years ahead. To be sure, one member of the Law School faculty wrote
to me to make the point that we mustn't find in the decision of many other
first-rate private institutions to "cease discrimination" the excuse for
continuing to practice it ourselves. This is an interesting perspective
(the other side of your "guilt" coin) but not a widespread one. Broad
questions of equity have been largely left unaddressed at this stage.

I would especially welcome your sense of the wisdom of the decision
to admit women to the Washington and Lee Law School. Do you believe this
was a decision we ought to have resisted in some way? I’m not sure I
understand all the pressures the profession, through the Association,
brought to bear upon the University at that time. I think it has been
a good decision from everyone's perspective here, though I do think it
makes it harder to justify our current policy in the undergraduate schools.
I don’t feel comfortable in merely saying that "well, we were compelled
to do that but haven't yet been compelled to do it at the undergraduate
level." I am quite anxious to have your thoughts on this side of the
matter if I can presume upon a terribly demanding schedule to ask it of
you.

Every best wish for the holiday. I hope the new year is a good one
for you and for Washington and Lee.

Most sincerely,



John D. Wilson
President

JDW/bcb

cc: Mr. S. L. Kopald, Jr.
Mr. J. Stewart Buxton