The state has argued that the all-male policy at The Citadel was not discrimination but the maintenance of an educationally valid policy providing diverse options to students.

Ms. Allred said the club's all-male policy failed to take into account "the fact that women such as myself also do business at lunch."

The Detroit Athletic Club admitted its first two women members last month after several corporations refused to reimburse dues for their executives because of the all-male policy.

Marginalized on the outside of the gates to Augusta National as they have been on the inside by the club's all-male policy, they were powerless and pointless.

The former president, Claudius Watts, a staunch defender of the school's all-male policy, resigned last August as the school began coeducation.

Such a decision, they explained, would allow the club to appear to have changed its all-male policy voluntarily, rather than under pressure from the city.

Ms. Faulkner was to have joined the corps last August after the college's all-male policy was declared unconstitutional as a result of a lawsuit.

The Office was ready to order public hearings on the case, which could have resulted in the loss of all city licenses and permits if the all-male policy had continued.

Outside, look for pickets, who will not be buying the Vienna's hectic attempt to defuse international resentment against its all-male policy.

Ms. Bledsoe said she doubted that DKE or many other national fraternities would modify their all-male policies, even if colleges mandated the change.