Nine students at Randolph-Macon Woman’s College sued the women’s institution today, accusing it of breach of contract for its decision last month to start admitting men next fall, the Associated Press reported. The students, who filed suit in a state court in Lynchburg, Va., said the Virginia college had given them no indication when they applied that it might go coed before they had completed their degrees. They asked the court to force the college to remain all-female until at least 2010, when they and their classmates will have graduated.

The college, which has cited declining enrollment and worsening finances as the main reasons for its decision, said delaying the onset of coeducation would not be practical. In the months both before and since the college’s board voted to admit men, students, alumni, and some faculty members have sharply protested the decision (The Chronicle, September 11).