FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Randolph-Macon Woman’s College Goes to Court on January 23

January 16, 2007 -- Lynchburg, VA - Hearings on two lawsuits filed against Randolph-Macon Women’s College (R-MWC) will take place at 3:00 PM on January 23, 2007 in the Lynchburg Circuit Court. Last October nine students filed suit against the College claiming the school breached its contract with the students by adopting coeducation and a new curriculum. The students are seeking an injunction that will force R-MWC to stop the implementation of a strategic plan 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.

The suit claims that the 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 educational environment that it promised. None of the College's official materials, even those distributed to current first-year students only weeks before the trustees vote, indicated that R-MWC was contemplating the transition to coeducation and a new "global honors" curriculum.

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 the parties 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.

On November 2, 2006 a second lawsuit was filed in an effort to reverse the Board of Trustees September 9 vote. Plaintiffs in the suit include seven students, an alumnae donor of scholarships and an art donor. The lawsuit claims that the Board of Trustees may not use assets of the College in a manner inconsistent with the purposes of the charitable corporation at the time the assets were contributed. Under Virginia law, the assets of a charitable corporation are deemed to be held in trust for the public for such purposes as are established by the governing documents of the charitable corporation.

For 115 years the purposes of R-MWC have been the same: to provide a liberal arts education to women in a single-sex atmosphere. All gifts and donations made to R-MWC since the initial endowment in 1891 in the form of realty and both tangible and intangible personal property have been in support of R-MWC's primary purpose of educating the individual woman. Thus the College's name is "Woman's College" and not "Women's College."

Both lawsuits are funded and supported by Preserve Educational Choice (PEC) a tax exempt charitable corporation supported by a group of more than 800 R-MWC alumnae, former college trustees, parents, students, faculty, and friends of the college who believe that the College’s financial stability and future success can be best realized by remaining a woman’s college. PEC held a strategic summit in Richmond, Virginia January 5 that brought together former R-MWC presidents, trustees, and faculty members along with alumnae leaders and donors to organize additional opposition efforts to coeducation at R-MWC beyond these two lawsuits.

Wyatt B. Durrette, Jr. is heading the legal team from DurretteBradshaw PLC that represents the plaintiffs in both cases.

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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, students, parents and ex-trustees. PEC is using this support to assist with litigation on behalf of multiple plaintiffs against R-MWC and create plans to help R-MWC thrive as a woman's college. For more information about Preserve Educational Choice, Inc., see their website at www.PreserveEducationalChoice.org.

DurretteBradshaw PLC concentrates on four core practice areas, including commercial and complex litigation. The firm has four offices in Virginia and is headquartered in Richmond. See www.DurretteBradshaw.com, or contact Marketing Director Amy Smith-Pike, at asmith-pike@durrettebradshaw.com, (804) 916-6596.

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