Editorial
Virginia Military Institute holds a unique place among Virginia’s state-supported institutions of higher learning. Its cadets receive a quality education and are trained to become citizen soldiers. Honor and integrity are emphasized and its graduates have distinguished themselves on the battlefield and in civilian roles.
Virginia would lose something very special if the state were to pull its financial support. That’s why legions of VMI’s alumni and supporters are speaking out against legislation now before the General Assembly that could imperil Virginia’s only statesupported military college. One bill would dissolve VMI’s board of visitors and turn over governance to another college’s board. Another bill would have a task force review VMI to determine whether continued state financial support is warranted.
As we stated in this space last week, we oppose both bills but understand what prompted the legislation – the decision last year by VMI’s board not to renew the contract of then-Superintendent Lt. Gen. Cedric Wins, the institute’s first African American superintendent who’d ably led his alma mater for five years. We felt this was a bad decision but continue to believe VMI plays an important role in higher education and warrants continued financial support from the state. We are confident that Wins’ successor, Superintendent Lt. Gen. David Furness, is continuing the good work of his predecessor in leading VMI.
Elsewhere in today’s newspaper (page A12), a diverse array of cadet leaders from this year’s graduating class offer keen insights into why VMI is such a special place. What follows is a letter from members of VMI’s Class of 2001 to the governor and members of the General Assembly who offer a spirited defense of their alma mater that we thought we would share with our readers.
To the Honorable Abigail Spanberger, Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the Honorable Members of the Virginia General Assembly: We are the VMI Class of 2001, the first coeducational class in the 185year history of the Virginia Military Institute. We write as citizens, veterans, and alumni who know from lived experience what VMI is and what it produces.
In 1996, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote for the Supreme Court that there was no reason to believe that admitting women capable of all the activities required of VMI cadets would destroy the Institute rather than enhance its capacity to serve the Nation. We are the proof.
We entered VMI in August of 1997. We did not know what awaited us. The Rat Line did not distinguish between men and women, color, national origin or religion. Neither did the honor system, the physical demands, the academic pressure, or the relentless standards of the place. We graduated 239 cadets who had endured the same system that has defined VMI since 1839.
Four months after graduation, our nation was attacked.
Our classmates answered the call. We deployed hundreds of times in support of the Global War on Terror. We served in every branch of the military and also in the FBI, CIA, DIA, and State Department. Our classmate Melissa (Graham) Adamski is the first female VMI graduate to become a General Officer. Our class president trained alongside Governor Spanberger in the same CIA training class before deploying to Iraq as a case officer. We did not seek recognition. We sought responsibility.
Four of our classmates did not come home.
Charles Ransom, our class Vice President, an African American cadet from Midlothian, was killed in Afghanistan in 2011. Our Brother Rat Josh Hurley was killed in Mosul, Iraq, leading soldiers in combat. Our Brother Rat Howie Cook died saving another soldier’s life from a drunk driver days before deploying again as a medevac pilot. Our Honor Court President Ro Mercado, a cadet of Filipino descent, survived multiple deployments with distinction only to lose his battle at home with the invisible wounds of war.
We buried them. We remember them. We carry them with us.
We are aware of the proposals before you. One would dissolve VMI’s Board of Visitors and transfer governance elsewhere. Another would establish a committee to decide whether VMI is capable of change or remains tied to the Confederacy.
We are the answer.
We integrated women into the Corps when the nation doubted it could be done. We produced citizensoldiers of every race and background who trained, served, and bled together. We did not prove this through symbolism. We proved it in Fallujah, Kandahar, the Korengal, and in military funerals across the Commonwealth.
VMI has a new Superintendent, Lieutenant General Furness, a threestar general and VMI alumnus. He deserves the opportunity to lead. VMI does not need to be dismantled to change. It needs to be trusted to evolve through leadership, as it has before.
In 2018, Justice Ginsburg returned to VMI. She told the cadets she knew her opinion would make VMI a better place, and that those who were initially opposed would learn from their women classmates how much good women could do for the institution. She was right.
VMI is not a relic. It is not a monument. It is a living institution that produces men and women willing to die for their country. Four of our classmates already have.
We ask that you allow VMI to continue its mission under the leadership of its Superintendent and Board of Visitors. Judge the Institute by the character, service, and sacrifice of those it produces.
We are the Class of 2001. We are proof of change. Respectfully submitted, The VMI Class of 2001 Charlie Bunting, Class President AaronMitchell,ClassVicePresident Will Alley, Class Historian Tony Gelormine Class Agent Rich Groen, Class Agent
