VA -- Lexington -- Virginia Military Institute campus:
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- Wikipedia Description: Virginia Military Institute
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Virginia Military Institute (VMI), located in Lexington, Virginia, is the oldest state military college in the United States. In keeping with its founding principles, and unlike any other state military college in the country, all students at VMI are military cadets pursuing undergraduate degrees. VMI offers cadets a spartan, physically demanding environment combined with strict military discipline. VMI cadets pursue bachelor's degrees in 14 disciplines in the fields of engineering, science, and the liberal arts.
Although VMI has been called the "West Point of the South", it differs from the federal service academies. For example, while all VMI cadets must participate in Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC), they have the flexibility to accept a commission in any of the four U.S. military branches or to pursue civilian endeavors upon graduation.
VMI's Mission Statement:
It is the mission of the Virginia Military Institute to produce educated and honorable men and women, prepared for the varied work of civil life, imbued with love of learning, confident in the functions and attitudes of leadership, possessing a high sense of public service, advocates of the American Democracy and free enterprise system, and ready as citizen-soldiers to defend their country in time of national peril.
History:
Early history:
On November 11, 1839, the Virginia Military Institute was founded on the site of the Lexington state arsenal, and the first Cadets relieved personnel on duty. Under Major General Francis Henney Smith, superintendent, and Colonel Claudius Crozet, president of the Board of Visitors, the Corps was imbued with the discipline and the spirit for which it is famous. The first cadet to march a sentinel post was Private John Strange in 1839. Since Strange's posting nearly 200 years ago, there have been sentinels posted at VMI 24 hours a day, seven days a week, during the school year.
The Class of 1842 graduated 16 cadets into the ranks of the first alumni. Living conditions were poor until 1850 when the cornerstone of the new barracks was laid. In 1851, Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson became a member of the faculty and professor of Natural and Experimental Philosophy. Under then-Major Jackson and Major William Gilham, VMI infantry and artillery units were present at the execution by hanging of John Brown at Charles Town, Virginia (now West Virginia) in 1859.
Civil War period:
The Institute played a valuable part in the training of the Southern armies as well as participating in actual battle. VMI cadets were called into active military service on 14 different occasions during the American Civil War and many cadets, under the leadership of General Stonewall Jackson, were sent to Camp Lee, at Richmond, to train recruits. VMI alumni were regarded the best officers of the South and several distinguished themselves in the Union forces as well.
Fifteen graduates rose to the rank of general in the Confederate Army. At the Battle of Chancellorsville, Stonewall Jackson was reported to say, "The Institute will be heard from today," commenting on the leadership provided by VMI alumni during the battle.
On May 15, 1864, VMI cadets fought as an independent unit at the Battle of New Market. VMI is the only military college in the United States that holds this distinction and is therefore the only school authorized to "fix bayonets" during parades. The cadets who fought that day ranged in age from 14 to 22, though through the years claims of cadets as young as 12 fighting have been made. General John C. Breckinridge, the commanding Southern general, held the cadets in reserve and did not use them until Union troops broke through the Confederate lines. Upon seeing the tide of battle turning in favor of the Union forces, Breckinridge stated, "Put the boys in...and may God forgive me for the order." With that order, history was made and the VMI Corps of Cadets charged into battle. Because of the heroic and unprecedented actions of the VMI cadets, the Union troops were defeated and Confederate troops under General Breckinridge held the Shenandoah Valley. VMI suffered fifty-two casualties with ten cadets killed in action and forty-two wounded. Six of the ten fallen cadets are buried on VMI grounds behind the statue, "Virginia Mourning Her Dead" by sculptor Moses Ezekiel, a VMI graduate who was also injured in the Battle of New Market.
The Institute was shelled and burned on June 12, 1864, by Union forces under the command of General David Hunter, as part of the Valley Campaigns of 1864. The destruction was almost complete and VMI had to temporarily hold classes at the Alms house in Richmond, Virginia. In April 1865, Richmond was evacuated due to the impending fall of Petersburg and the VMI Corps of Cadets was disbanded.
The Lexington campus reopened for classes on October 17, 1865. It is said that Confederate General Jubal A. Early burned the town of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, in retaliation for the shelling of VMI.
Following the war, Matthew Fontaine Maury, the pioneering oceanographer known as the "Pathfinder of the Seas", accepted a teaching position at VMI, holding the physics chair.
World War I and II:
During World War II, VMI participated in the War Department's Army Specialized Training Program from 1943 to 1946. The program provided training in engineering and related subjects to enlisted men at colleges across the United States. Over 2,100 ASTP members studied at VMI during the war.
...
Campus:
The VMI campus covers 134 acres, 12 of which are designated as a National Historic District. The campus is referred to as the "Post."
All cadets are housed on campus in a large five-story building, called the "barracks." The Old Barracks, which has been designated a National Historic Landmark, stands on the site of the old arsenal. The new wing of the barracks ("New Barracks") was completed in 1949. The two wings surround two quadrangles connected by a sally port. All rooms open onto porch-like stoops facing one of the quadrangles. A third barracks wing is under construction on the site of the former visitor's center. The four arched entries into the barracks are named for George Washington, Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, George Marshall and Jonathan Daniels.
Next to the Barracks are offices and meeting areas for VMI clubs and organizations, the cadet visitors center and lounge, a snack bar, and a Barnes & Noble-operated bookstore.
Currently, VMI's campus is busy with construction due to the "Vision 2039" program. Under this capital campaign, VMI's alumni and supporters raised over $275 million over three years. The Barracks are being expanded to house 1,500 cadets, all academic buildings are being renovated and modernized, and VMI is spending an additional $200 million to build the VMI Center for Leadership and Ethics. The new Leadership Center will be used by VMI cadets, Washington and Lee University students, and other students throughout the country and abroad to develop leadership abilities combined with a focus on integrity and honor to benefit tomorrow's world. The Center will also be home to VMI's Distinguished Speaker Series and its Leadership Symposia. The funding will also support "study abroad" programs including joint ventures with Oxford and Cambridge Universities in England and many other universities.
...
Admission of women:
VMI was the last U.S. military college to admit women. VMI excluded women from the Corps of Cadets until 1997. In 1990, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a discrimination lawsuit against VMI for its all-male admissions policy.
While the court challenge was pending, a state-sponsored Virginia Women's Institute for Leadership (VWIL) was opened at Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Virginia, as a parallel program for women. The VWIL continued, even after VMI's admission of women.
After VMI won its case in U.S. District Court, the case went through several appeals until June 26, 1996, when the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 7-1 decision in United States v. Virginia, found that it was unconstitutional for a school supported by public funds to exclude women. (Justice Clarence Thomas did not vote because his son was attending VMI at the time.) Following the ruling, VMI contemplated going private to exempt itself from the 14th Amendment, and thus avoid the ruling. However, Assistant Secretary of Defense Frederick F.Y. Pang warned the school that the Department of Defense would withdraw ROTC programs from the school if privatization took place. As a result of this action by Pang, Congress passed a resolution on November 18, 1997, prohibiting the Department of Defense from withdrawing or diminishing any ROTC program at one of the six senior military colleges, including VMI. This escape clause provided by Congress came after the VMI Board of Visitors had already voted 8-7 to admit women and the decision was not revisited.
In August 1997, VMI enrolled its first female cadets, 30 women who would be held to the same strict physical courses and technical training as the male cadets. VMI believes firmly in "one corps, one standard" and, unlike any other state military college, VMI has not adopted "gender-normed" physical training standards. Female Rats are required to maintain a short haircut of approximately four inches or less and are forbidden to wear makeup or jewelry.
...
Notable graduates:
VMI's alumni include a Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense, Nobel Prize winners, Pulitzer Prize winners, Rhodes Scholars, Medal of Honor recipients, U.S. Senators and Representatives, college and university presidents, and many business leaders. Some examples:
* William Mahone, 1847. Confederate Army major general, member Virginia General Assembly, U.S. Senator (1881–1887), and railroad executive.
* Benjamin Franklin Ficklin, 1849. A founder of the Pony Express.
* John McCausland, 1857. Confederate Army Brigadier-General, serving under General Jubal Early.
* George Marshall, 1901. General of the Army, Chief of Staff of the Army during World War II, U.S. Secretary of State (1947–1949), U.S. Secretary of Defense (1950), and Nobel Peace Prize winner for the Marshall Plan in Europe after World War II.
* George Patton, like his father and grandfather who were both VMI graduates, studied at VMI. After leaving VMI, Patton graduated from West Point.
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