In October, VMI Football player Kouri Crump was named the recipient of the prestigious Defender of the Nation Award. Monday Dec. 8, Crump, his family and select teammates attended the Bronko Nagurski Banquet presented by the Charlotte Touchdown Club where he was officially presented with the award.

The Institute closed out the fall semester with celebrations in Memorial Hall, honoring 17 graduates who commissioned, answering the call to serve, and 29 young men and women who have now joined the ranks of VMI Alumni.

On reading day, the day between classes ending and exams beginning, the Center for Cadet Counseling hosted Stress Busters in Cocke Hall, where cadets were able to take a break from studying and recharge with games, snacks, and dogs to pet from TheraPets of the Roanoke Valley, Inc.

VMI basketball guard TJ Johnson has been selected as one of just three student-athletes nationwide to serve on the NCAA Division I Board of Directors.

One of the many things Virginia Military Institute cadets are renowned for are their selfless acts of service, even when it is not convenient. That was made evident during the most stressful and demanding time of fall semester, exam week.

A webpage dedicated to national postgraduate scholarships and pre-professional programs in law and health professions available to Virginia Military Institute cadets, regardless of their commissioning status, was recently unveiled to 1st and 2nd Class Institute Honors cadets.

VMI welcomed a special guest to the last home basketball game before winter furlough. Gov. Glenn Youngkin was warmly welcomed by the Corps of Cadets in Cameron Hall Dec. 9, as the Keydets took on the Loyola University Greyhounds.

Col. Steve Knepper, professor in the Department of English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies, is featured on " The Weight of a Whale”, a poetry episode of the public radio program, “With Good Reason,” that first aired Dec. 5.

Virginia Military Institute will hold its December ROTC joint commissioning ceremony, in which approximately 20 new officers take their commissioning oaths, Wednesday, Dec. 17 at 5 p.m., and commencement ceremony, Thursday, Dec. 18 at 11 a.m.

Mattie Quesenberry Smith, Ph.D., instructor in the Department of English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies at Virginia Military Institute, and Virginia’s poet laureate, has been chosen by Virginia Business (VB) for their list of “100 People to Meet in 2026” in the Educators category.