By Bret R. Wilhite, VMI ‘07
What are we preserving – and what are we trading away?
Not long ago, there was a time when the Virginia Military Institute did not explain itself.
It never calibrated its identity to the moment. It never softened its edges to be more palatable. It stood, plainly and firmly, as what it was: a demanding, tradition-bound institution that believed its way of forming men and women into leaders required no apology. Those of us who lived it remember that clearly.
VMI was not ambiguous. It was not trying to be everything to everyone. It was exacting, consistent, and confident in its mission. That clarity made it powerful.
And it is precisely that clarity which now feels at risk.
The issue before us is not one decision, not one speaker, one policy, or one headline. It is something more persistent: a pattern. Consider the turning points – not as isolated moments, but as markers along a broader shift:
- The 1996 decision in United States v. Virginia fundamentally altered the composition of the Corps of Cadets. Whatever one’s view of that ruling, it marked the beginning of a new era – one in which VMI’s internal model would no longer be determined solely from within, but subject to external mandate. The Institute adapted, as it chose to. But a line had been crossed.
- In 2020, the statue of Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson – long central to the Institute’s identity – was removed by the Board of Visitors. For some, overdue. For others, a rupture. Either way, it signaled a willingness to redefine how VMI understands and presents its own past.
- Since then, sustained scrutiny over culture, governance, and institutional direction – including repeated allegations of systemic racism that challenge VMI’s long-held claim of meritocracy – has placed the Institute in a posture it rarely occupied before.
- And now, in consideration of hierarchy within the chain of command, the selection of Governor Abigail Spanberger to speak at Commencement later this month – once an incidental choice given the respect to the position and rank – carries unmistakable symbolic weight in an already charged environment.
Each of these moments can be explained. Contextualized. Defended. Taken together, they tell a different story. They suggest an Institute defined not only by what it preserves – but by what it is willing, or compelled, to change.
For those outside the Institute, that question may feel abstract. Does the Institute still define itself from within – or is it beginning to take its cues from without? The answer is no longer theoretical, but visible in the ways tradition and autonomy have been challenged by new influences. It has reached into the very structure of the cadet experience and the relationship between the Institute and its alumni.
In another era, the First Class held the reins. They, having earned the right after four years, were the ones who nominated and voted on commencement – selecting speakers, setting the date for Breakout, shaping the final moments of their time at VMI.
Today, many of those decisions are made for the Corps of Cadets by the administration, often aligned with broader institutional priorities and external expectations.
What was once Corps-run, administration-enabled has, in many respects, become administration-run, Corps-enabled. And while some measure of cadet empowerment may be returning, we are all left to wonder for exactly how long, and how long before shifting political or external winds alter that balance once again?
The same pattern extends beyond barracks and the parade ground. The Alumni Association – once formed to support those who passed through the Institute – has, in the years following the Supreme Court decision, increasingly aligned itself with the priorities of the Institute and the Superintendent’s strategic vision.
Board representation has narrowed; alumni are often presented with selected slates rather than open choice. Dissenting voices, particularly those that challenge the prevailing message, are at times muted in affiliated spaces, reflecting a growing sensitivity to external perception.
As alumni, that very question lands heavily. We did not endure the system because it was comfortable or widely affirmed. We endured it for its exacting consistency – for a system anchored in something that did not shift with the prevailing winds.
The value of a VMI education was inseparable from the Institute’s refusal to dilute itself. That principle was not implied – it was explicitly defined.
It is worth remembering how VMI once defined that purpose in its own words – etched into the very stone of the Parapet: a “gratifying spectacle … fair specimens of citizen-soldiers … ready in every time of deepest peril to vindicate her honor or defend her rights.”
That “spectacle” was not abstract. It was the standard.
An institution defined not by what it said about itself – but by what it produced: disciplined, accountable, honorable men and women forged through shared hardship and internal expectation.
If that is the measure – if VMI is, as we have long believed, to be judged by the character of those it sends into the world – then a harder question follows – one that cannot be ignored: Why, now, does it appear to look outward for validation of what it is?
Why does an Institute once confident enough to inscribe its purpose in stone seem increasingly compelled to answer to external definitions of its character?
Because if that original vision still holds, then VMI’s identity should not need to be explained elsewhere. It should stand on its own.
VMI was never meant to be ordinary. What is at stake now is whether the Institute’s intentions remain true to that charge.
Bret R. Wilhite, ‘07
About the author: Bret R. Wilhite is a 2007 VMI graduate and former English major who entered the private sector following graduation. Bret serves as an editorial director with more than a decade and a half of experience in investment communications, editorial strategy, and fund messaging across asset management and alternatives-focused firms. He is based in the Greater Philadelphia Area. He can be reached at: bret.wilhite@gmail.com
First published on VMI’s The Cadet newspaper
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