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Virginia Military Institute — news, coverage & facts — IJR

Overview

The Virginia Military Institute (VMI) is a public senior military college in Lexington, Virginia. It was founded in 1839 as America's first state military college and is the oldest public senior military college in the United States. In keeping with its founding principles and unlike any other senior military college in the United States, VMI enrolls cadets only and awards bachelor's degrees exclusively. The institute grants degrees in 14 disciplines in engineering, science, and the liberal arts. While Abraham Lincoln first called VMI "The West Point of the South" because of its role during the American Civil War, the nickname has remained because VMI has produced more Army generals than any ROTC program in the United States. Despite the nickname, VMI differs from the federal military service academies in many regards. For example, as of 2019, VMI had a total enrollment of 1,722 cadets (as compared to 4,500 at the Academies) making it one of the smallest NCAA Division I schools in the United States. Additionally, today (as in the 1800s) all VMI cadets sleep on cots and live closely together in a more spartan and austere barracks environment than at the Service Academies. All VMI cadets must participate in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) of the United States Armed Forces programs, but are afforded the flexibility of pursuing civilian endeavors or accepting an officer's commission in the active or reserve components of one of the six U.S. military branches upon graduation. Approximately 65% of VMI graduates enter the military upon graduation, making it one of the largest producers of officers for the United States Army and Marine Corps each year. VMI's alumni include a secretary of state, secretary of defense, secretary of the Army, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, 7 Medal of Honor recipients, 13 Rhodes Scholars, Pulitzer Prize winners, an Academy Award winner, an Emmy Award and Golden Globe winner, a martyr recognized by the Episcopal Church, senators and representatives, governors, lieutenant governors, a Supreme Court justice, and the first American to earn the 3 highest awards in the United States Military.

From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Notable quotes

“Virginia Military Institute (VMI): Established in 1839 in Lexington, Virginia, VMI had 1,902 alumni by the outbreak of the Civil War. Of this number, 1781 would fight for the Confederacy. One-third of the field officers commanding Virginia's Civil War regiments were graduates.”
— Alan Axelrod, Armies North, Armies South: The Military Forces of the Civil War Compared and Contrasted (2022), Essex: Lyons Press, paperback, p. 24
“At VMI integrity subconsciously becomes a way of life.”
— Harry F. Byrd Jr., Foreword to Drawing Out the Man: The VMI Story (1978) by Henry A. Wise, Charlottesville: The University Press of Virginia, hardcover, p. xiii
“Thus ended VMI's seemingly brief affiliation with horses. The memories are still strong, I suppose, because of the thrill that riding brought to cadets at the Institute, or maybe as a welcome diversion from the strict regimentation at VMI. The horse offered a taste of the Old South that drew crowds to VMI, and the VMI cadet is at his best when there is a crowd.”
— James F. Dittrich, "Horses At VMI", A Crowd of Honorable Youths: Historical Essays on the First 150 Years of the Virginia Military Institute (Lexington: VMI Sequicentennial Committee, 1988) by Thomas W. Davis (editor), p. 167
“You have something most people can only dream of- you belong to a beautiful place, a beautiful history, a beautiful people. You were and are so lucky.”
— Ursula Maria Mandel, editor, Memories of VMI (2003, republished 2013)
“No college in America can match the record of the Institute in training the citizen-soldier.”
— John Otho Marsh, Jr., 14th United States Secretary of the Army (1981-1989), in 1982, as quoted by Beverly M. Read, "Sculpture at VMI", A Crowd of Honorable Youths: Historical Essays on the First 150 Years of the Virginia Military Institute (Lexington: VMI Sequicentennial Committee, 1988) by Thomas W. Davis (editor), p. 150
“I do not pretend to be without bias. Who ever tried to write a history of a college unless it meant much to him? Every effort, nevertheless, has been made to be accurate.”
— Henry A. Wise, VMI Class of 1927, on February 12, 1977, Preface to Drawing Out the Man: The VMI Story (1978), Charlottesville: The University Press of Virginia, hardcover, p. xvi

Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.