Featured Stories

Christopher M. Hulburt ’22, valedictorian of the Class of 2022 at Virginia Military Institute, spoke during commencement, of what brought his fellow cadets and himself to VMI, and what kept them at VMI, and the importance of attributes like honor, duty, excellence, and integrity.

Cadets conquered many challenges on and off post during 2022 spring field training exercises (FTX).

A team of 26 mechanical engineering cadets bring their skills to the Baja Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) vehicle design competition at Tennessee Tech in Cookeville, Tennessee.

“As VMI cadets, we are sought after for our leadership, discipline, and integrity. These are qualities that are simply not reliably found at other schools.”

The VMI men’s club rugby team has dominated their conference this season, going 6-2 in the fall and 4-0 in the spring. Now they have their sights set on a national championship.

Maria Korsnick, president and CEO of Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) in Washington, D.C., recently visited the Department of Mechanical Engineering and underscored the essential role for nuclear energy.

Since November, several cadets have been working toward the German Armed Forced Proficiency Badge (GAFPB), a decoration which requires the completion of six physical and military events.

Eight cadets from VMI, two from each class, traveled to Charleston and competed against the Citadel’s team. A series of challenging events and exercises, the competition was designed to foster camaraderie and showcase the best of each institution.

The VMI combat shooting club team represented the Institute at the annual Relentless Warrior Competition hosted by the Sig Sauer Academy in New Hampshire on April 9. At the event, the team competed against federal and senior military colleges in a six-stage combat shooting challenge.

VMI’s Coast Guard detachment kicked off their first ever spring field training exercises with the arrival of a U.S. Coast Guard HH-60 helicopter to post.

The VMI Glee Club represented the arts for the Institute and enjoyed beautiful weather in Puerto Rico over spring furlough. The group escaped a Virginia snowstorm when they departed from Roanoke Saturday, March 12, and within a day they were at the beach of Luquillo, Puerto Rico.

Three VMI cadets recently attended the U.S. Air Force Academy’s 2022 National Character and Leadership Symposium in Colorado. The conference’s theme this year was “Ethics and Respect for Human Dignity,” and the event featured several keynote speakers and sessions.

Cadets across post will have an opportunity to visit with award-winning, New York Times bestselling writer S.A. Cosby, from Southeastern Virginia. The visit was arranged by LTC Mary Stewart Atwell, an associate professor in the department of English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies.

An Olympic sport, VMI has competed in pistol shooting in different forms since 1932. The current iteration of the team was formed in 2011 and is coached by Reece McCormick. Cadets fire two main types of pistols: air-powered pistols firing a .117 caliber pellet and .22 caliber pistols.

As he looks ahead to completing his time at VMI, Kim hopes future cadets remember to focus on what is important and “find that balance between academics, physical fitness, and free time.”

Noah Goldsmith ’22 recently presented research completed with John Barker ’23 in the ACM International Conference on Advanced Information Science and System (AISS 2021) hosted in Sanya, China, guided by Dr. Youna Jung, associate professor of computer information sciences.

Cadets taking Civil Engineering 121, Surveying, took a field trip to McKethan Park before Thanksgiving furlough to practice flying Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs or “drones”) used in surveying and mapping.

“There's so much knowledge here,” Leon Thomas '22 commented. “There's all this different military experience from different branches that you really would never have seen in many other places.”

Every picture tells a story, and this picture from an alumni reunion this fall depicts the VMI legacy of the McCown family. Originally from Lexington, Virginia, members of the McCown family have attended VMI since the 1920s.

Her senior year of high school, Claire Lee '22 attended an open house to see what post was like, and as she put it, “The parade really got me. I fell in love with the whole system of VMI: the brotherhood, the discipline people are required to learn, the structure."

Mitchell Masterson '21 and his mentor, Maj. Jochen S. Arndt, travelled recently to the Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference for Undergraduate Scholarship, where Masterson presented his work on "Reporting on Civil War: How Newspapers Explained Township Violence in South Africa, 1990-1994."

As the world adapts to an environment of managing COVID-19 risk, VMI admissions staff have been able to bring back a staple of pre-pandemic life—overnight visits by prospective cadets—but with safeguards in place.

Tanner Mallari ’22, a computer and information sciences major, recently presented at the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) International Conference on Computer Science and Software Engineering (CSSE 2021).

Cadets part of the running club at VMI have found much success at recent races in southwest Virginia. Club members ran in both the Chessie Nature Trail races and Harvest Hustle races, with many cadets running personal best times.

Maybe it was because Family Weekend was canceled last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the Family Weekend festivities on post held Oct. 8-10 seemed livelier than ever.

Many ceremonious events at VMI have a face and a voice. They’re often that of Maj. Gen. Cedric T. Wins ’85, superintendent, or Kasey Meredith ’22, this year’s regimental commander. The VMI community has become familiar with Meredith from events like Matriculation Day and parades.

Cadets Michael Hoffmann ’22 and Christopher Soo ’22 have been recognized by Army ROTC Cadet Command as top cadets in the nation, with Hoffmann ranking No. 5 and Soo No. 7.

On Monday, Sept. 20, the history department, in conjunction with the English department, sponsored a Constitution Day event supporting VMI’s emerging Constitutional history program. Constitution Day, which commemorates the signing of the U.S. Constitution on Sept. 17, 1787, is observed on post and

As with everything else at VMI this fall, food service has undergone numerous changes in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Easily recognizable in their navy blue shirts, VMI’s cadet emergency medical technicians (EMTs) seem to be everywhere at certain times of the year. During Matriculation Week, some of them are working almost 18 hours a day as the new cadets and their cadre train in the August heat.

This year, Lt. Col. Todd Pegg '92 added a new level of responsibility to his already full plate when he assumed duties as commander of the Virginia National Guard’s 329th regional support group.

The United States Space Force Captain Even Rogers ’10 typically flies from Colorado to Arizona when visiting his family, but the small plane he has was in the shop. Isn’t that how all stories of fate begin?

This summer, Thomas Muldowney ’21 is working on a research project that involves a lot of number crunching— finding out which policies benefit people.

“Memes are just an interesting concept.” That’s what Josie Freeman ’23 has to say about her Summer Undergraduate Research Institute project, “Motivation for Memes.”

As graduation loomed for the Class of 2020, and the U.S. unemployment rate rose, the VMI Alumni Agencies and the Office of Career Services began to work together to bolster new graduates’ chances of job-hunting success.

The tick rover, a longtime project for Col. Jim Squire, professor of electrical and computer engineering, has won a national award. Additionally, the VMI team beat out teams from several nationally recognized research universities and is headed to the international stage.

This summer, work will begin on three construction projects, while work continues or nears completion on a multitude of others.

This spring, 35 cadets were on study-abroad programs when the pandemic hit. By March 23, all had safely returned to the United States. At first, it wasn’t clear that they were going to have to leave their host country—and many didn’t want to leave until they absolutely had to.

For the first time in history, VMI started holding online classes by the end of Spring Furlough. Leading the charge was Brig. Gen. Bob Moreschi, dean of faculty, and the entire faculty and staff at VMI.

When VMI transitioned to a distance learning environment, physical education faculty had to grapple with a massive challenge: how to teach classes such as swimming and boxing.

The toilet paper shortage engendered by the coronavirus pandemic provided one VMI economics professor with a real-world example of a supply chain issue that’s affected nearly every American.

It may feel strange job or internship searching during this “coronavirus economy," however the VMI Office of Career Services has some ideas for a productive summer.

This will be the longest the Corps has been away from Lexington since the Civil War, according to Col. Keith Gibson, director of VMI Museums. Gibson recalled VMI's history with epidemics starting with typhoid fever in 1845

For the third year in a row, the Corps Physical Training Facility serves as the site for the Southern Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships Feb. 29-Mar. 1 in Lexington.

When Col. Howard Sanborn received the notice in the spring that he’d been selected for a Fulbright award allowing him to teach in Hong Kong for the fall 2019 semester, he knew that rumblings of civil unrest were beginning, but that didn't stop him.

This academic year, construction equipment and noise seem to be everywhere on post, as renovations continue to both Preston Library and Scott Shipp Hall. Many of those working on these projects, of course, were unacquainted with VMI before their work brought them here.

Lt. Col. Ammad Sheikh, who’s now in his second year as director of career services, has a different goal: helping all cadets develop a life plan that will sustain them not only economically but mentally and emotionally throughout their working life.