Last month, Democrats in Virginia introduced several bills aimed at dismantling, defunding, and investigating the Virginia Military Institute. The school — a source of some of the greatest military minds in American history — is a problem for Democrats. Unlike most universities, VMI has resisted pressure to modify its strict honor code and lower its rigorous standards in exchange for equity and progressivism. Last year, Louise Lucas, a progressive Democrat from Virginia Beach and president pro tempore of the Virginia Senate, made clear her intentions for VMI with a simple post on X: “FAFO.” The attacks from Ms. Lucas and others have resulted in a chorus of support from media outlets, politicians, and even the Department of War, all commenting in favor of VMI.
The national focus shouldn’t come as a shock. For a school with a relatively small student body, VMI has had an outsize impact on the nation’s military for 186 years. The current chairman of the Joint Chiefs is an alumnus, as is the current ambassador to the United Nations. VMI has produced nine four-star generals, 39 college presidents, 266 general and flag officers, a secretary of state, and two Marine Corps commandants.
If the Democrats in Richmond get their way, this incredible legacy, along with an $850 million endowment, will be handed over to the board of Virginia State University. VSU has a graduation rate of 41% compared to VMI’s 81%, and an endowment equal to roughly 10% of VMI’s. Choosing VSU, a school ranked in the bottom 20% of colleges, as the controlling entity for one of the nation’s premier military academies should be viewed for what it is: a socialist redistribution of hundreds of millions of dollars.
Much of this is rehashing attacks on the university by Democrats in the summer of 2020, when, during the tail end of Gov. Ralph Northam’s administration, Democrats removed several monuments from the school, implemented mandatory DEI training for cadets, and forced out VMI’s beloved superintendent, Gen. Peay — a decorated Vietnam veteran. Then, just as now, the changes to VMI stemmed from a legislative proposal to investigate VMI.
Now, state Del. Dan Helmer, a Democrat and twice-failed congressional candidate from Fairfax, introduced a new “investigation” bill, accusing the school of holding on to a “Lost Cause mentality.” This line of attack claims VMI’s legacy resides only in the Confederate States of America and neglects modern public heroes such as Gen. George Patton. Patton, who spent two years as a cadet at VMI, was the grandson of Confederate Col. George S. Patton Sr., who was killed fighting for the Confederates at the Battle of Winchester. General Patton had four relatives who fought for the South in the war, including a great uncle killed in Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg. But Americans do not fault the Patton family for their heritage, recognizing instead Gen. George Patton as the WWII hero he was, his son Gen. George Patton IV as the Korea and Vietnam War hero he was.
What politicians such as Lucas and Helmer fail to understand is that rather than resting on a kind of Confederate mythology, VMI’s foundation has been built on a commitment to character development, self-discipline, and physical challenge. VMI uses rigor and merit to teach responsibility, an attribute far more valuable than equity or inclusion.
GENERALS SHOULDN’T LEAD THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
A recent letter from the leaders of VMI’s Corps of Cadets summarized this point perfectly: “VMI is not sustained by myth, nor by denial of its past. It is sustained by the daily labor of cadets who submit themselves to discipline to serve something greater than themselves. We do not claim perfection, we claim responsibility.”
Later in his life, Gen. George C. Marshall, architect of America’s victory in WWII, would comment that his time at VMI was instrumental in teaching him how to lead and take responsibility. Our nation needs young men and women of character who will do just that: lead and take responsibility. Our nation deserves VMI.
Garrett Exner is a former special operations officer in the Marine Corps. He was appointed to the Board of Visitors at VMI by former Gov. Youngkin and removed by Democrats in the Virginia Senate.
