By MATT CHITTUM
ROANOKE TIMES

One male and one female cadet are sanctioned for after-hours 'conduct unbecoming a cadet.' 

Two Virginia Military Institute freshmen - a woman and a man - each received a "severe penalty" Thursday for getting caught in an after-hours tryst in a barracks room, but the school chose not to enact a two-semester suspension recommended by a cadet committee.

The two freshmen, whose names were not released, were punished for "conduct unbecoming a cadet," a VMI news release said, specifically multiple unauthorized room visits after lights out at 11 p.m. and "inappropriate behavior."

Other sources at VMI said the pair, who apparently had an ongoing relationship, were caught by an upperclassman in a sexual encounter, but were not more specific.

The sources also said the woman, one of the first 30 to attend VMI, is the same woman caught kissing a different male freshman in a darkened room in October. The woman and the man were confined to barracks for that infraction. The current penalties will extend through the end of this school year and well into the fall 1998 semester, according to the news release.

The violations were first considered by the cadet executive committee, which sources have said recommended a two-semester suspension for each student. VMI's news release said Commandant James Joyner, in conjunction with the executive committee, decided on a different punishment.

The penalties do include "suspended suspensions," which will be held over the cadets' heads lest they make similar violations in the future.

While VMI has no specific rule against cadets having sexual relations on campus, spokesman Mike Strickler said, it has historically been treated under the general umbrella of conduct unbecoming a cadet. This year, however, VMI added rules banning dating among freshmen and between freshmen and upperclass cadets during the "ratline" training period, as well as dating within the corps of cadets' chain of command. Room visits with no lights on or door shades down are also prohibited.

School officials said in October that some problems of this kind were inevitable. Senior Class President Kevin Trujillo, who presides on the cadet Executive Committee which reviews such charges, said knowing relationships would happen hasn't made it any easier to deal with them.

He said Wednesday the committee has been hard-pressed to determine appropriate penalties, because every penalty sets a precedent. At the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., which admitted women 21 years ago, sex on campus is specifically banned, but there is no typical penalty, said spokeswoman Karen Myers. The penalty could range from confinement to expulsion.

The same is true for illegal dating, which includes dating among freshmen, between freshmen and upperclass midshipmen, and within a student's military company. Students sometimes get transferred to a different company so they can pursue a relationship.

At the U.S. Army Academy at West Point, N.Y., sex anywhere on the 16,000-acre compound is against the rules and is considered "very serious," said Capt. John Cornelio, chief of public information. The penalty for the broadly defined "sexual misconduct" sometimes rises to expulsion.

Cornelio said he sympathized with VMI in dealing with such problems for the first time.

"I can promise you, it won't be the last time," he said.