VMI ‘Rat Line’ Notches First Female Dropout

LEXINGTON, Va. — The first woman to drop out of Virginia Military Institute’s torturous “rat line” left after deciding that the regimented lifestyle and constant mental harassment were not for her, school officials said.

The woman joins 13 men in dropping out of this year’s freshman class of 460 who arrived on Monday. VMI ended its 158-year-old all-male policy this year with the admission of 30 women. The school refused to identify those who left.

“She just felt the military system was not for her,” said Tom Warburton, a senior.

The woman had finished the opening day of the six-month tribulation VMI uses to test the physical, mental and emotional limits of all first-year students, or “rats.” Until March, each rat must observe strict rules of discipline, live in spartan barracks, march at attention wherever they go on campus and do endless rounds of push-ups.