A proactive alumni group working to curb diversity, equity and inclusion at the Virginia Military Institute has been given credit for prompting the school’s DEI chief to quit.
An article in The Washington Post largely cites the actions of proactive alumni, most notably members of “The Spirit of VMI” group, for the decision by Jamica Love to leave her post.
“Love, 49, who leaves her position at the end of June, was the highest-ranking Black woman at the nation’s oldest state-supported military college. But she faced intense backlash from some alumni and cadets as soon as her hiring was announced in May 2021,” the Post reported June 1.
While the Post’s article suggested the dislike of DEI at VMI is due to disgruntled white male alumni, former students there have told The College Fix in recent years they seek to preserve honor and meritocracy at the institute in the face of equity programming.
They also said they reject the argument the institute is steeped in racism and sexism.
As The College Fix previously reported, the controversy dates back to a 2021 consultants report that accused VMI of “institutional racism and sexism” and recommended the implementation of new DEI measures.
Last year alumni began actively writing to state lawmakers about their concerns, including Gov. Glenn Younking, as well as voice complaints on social media.
Earlier this year, alumni said they will withhold donations as VMI implements DEI programming.
Most recently, concerned alumni in late April filed a lawsuit against the VMI Alumni Association.
“The complaint alleges that the Association refused members’ requests for records that will permit them to communicate with 20,000+ fellow members by email — the same vehicle the Association uses, and permits others to use,” Bacon’s Rebellion reported. . . . (read more on College Fix)
The VMI Alumni Association’s Competitive Authoritarianism Regime Subjugates its Members (Bacon’s Rebellion, 3 MAY 23)
On April 25, 2023, a group of Virginia Military Institute (VMI) alumni filed suit against the VMI Alumni Association, Inc. The complaint alleges that the Association refused members’ requests for records that will permit them to communicate with 20,000+ fellow members by email — the same vehicle the Association uses, and permits others to use. . . . .
VMI’s DEI Chief Resigns — “Vitriolic” VMI Critics Implicated (Bacon’s Rebellion, 6 JUN 23)
. . . My purpose in writing about Love’s resignation is not to highlight her role in the ongoing controversy over DEI at VMI — my sense is that she did exactly what was expected of her — but to explore how The Washington Post has framed her departure. Writer Ian Shapira takes the opportunity once again to recite the litany of racism allegations against VMI and cast the controversy as a good guys/bad guys melodrama with the black hats worn by “a political action committee of mostly White conservative graduates called The Spirit of VMI.” . . . .
From one of the comments on this article:
“My son is at VMI and he is glad to see her go. He had to attend a class discussion with her and she proceeded to yell at them about systematic racism and white privilege closing down all discussion and turning it into a lecture. That is not how change is brought about.”
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