Headlines
Nearly 300 VMI cadets, students from other institutions of higher education, and members of the public heard viewpoints from across the political spectrum this week.
![Judge Andrew Napolitano speaks to the crowd during in Gillis Theatre.](/media/content-assets/images/news/2016-17/LeadershipNapolitano2018HLM263-1-400x269.jpg)
Judge and Fox News judicial commentator Andrew Napolitano spoke Monday, Oct. 30, as part of the eighth annual leadership and ethics conference.
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Starting with VMI’s homecoming football game against Western Carolina, the Institute will be utilizing a new clear bag policy at Foster Stadium, similar to policies at other NCAA games nationwide.
![Dr. Klaus Schmider answers a question during his class on European land warfare in Scott Shipp Hall.](/media/content-assets/images/news/2016-17/KlausSchmider2018KN42-1-400x266.jpg)
Col. Geoff Jensen is teaching this fall at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, while Dr. Klaus Schmider, a member of the Sandhurst faculty, is teaching at VMI.
![Mu-Chi Lu ’19, Hanchu Zhang ’19, and Edward Olbrych ’18 chose between two prompts to solve mathematically during a 23-hour competition hosted by VMI Sept. 30 through Oct. 1.](/media/content-assets/images/news/2016-17/MathComp2018AMW019-1-400x266.jpg)
For the first time since the event was established three years ago, VMI took home the top spot at the Shenandoah Valley Math Modeling Challenge.
![Col. Tom Timmes ’92 speaks with cadets just before firing the evening gun in his role as Officer in Charge.](/media/content-assets/images/news/2016-17/TimmesOfficerInCharge2018KEN077-1-400x266.jpg)
At this fall’s orientation for new faculty and staff, a few faculty members needed less help than most in learning about VMI culture, customs, and history.
![Author Walter McDougall speaks to cadets in the classroom.](/media/content-assets/images/news/2016-17/McDougallWeb-1-400x266.jpg)
Walter McDougall offered insight into how civil religion has guided U.S. foreign policy since the nation's founding in a lecture held in Jackson Memorial Hall.
![Astronaut Leland Melvin speaks from the podium in Gillis Theatre.](/media/content-assets/images/news/2016-17/LelandMelvinSTEM2018KN061-1-400x277.jpg)
Nearly 300 school teachers and administrators arrived at the STEM Education Conference this week to learn about new techniques and ideas to take back to their classrooms.
![A portrait of Walter McDougall.](/media/content-assets/images/news/2016-17/McDougall-Thumbnail-400x266.jpg)
Dr. Walter McDougall, a Pulitzer Prize winning historian and Vietnam veteran, will speak at VMI Thursday, Sept. 28, at 8 p.m. in Jackson Memorial Hall.
![Professor Dee Mornah lectures in a classroom.](/media/content-assets/images/news/2016-17/Entrepreneurship2018AMW018-1-400x266.jpg)
VMI announced its participation in the Growth4VA campaign, which will focus on promoting reform and reinvestment in Virginia’s higher education system.