Eight 1st Class commissioning cadets at Virginia Military Institute, along with their faculty leadership team toured the Socialist Republic of Vietnam during spring furlough as part of the Olmsted Foundation’s Undergraduate Program.

The George C. Marshall Foundation hosted a week-long professional development seminar recently for secondary school teachers from across Virginia.

Riley Malone ’25, a history major at Virginia Military Institute is examining the government policy on service members, and how their First Amendment rights have changed from 1900 to the present in his 10-week SURI project titled, “True Faith and Allegiance: The First Amendment in the Military.”   

Members of the VMI community continue to expand academic opportunity and impact across various fields of study. Recent activities include honor society inductions, ethics bowl competition, and collaborations in cyber research.

The Superintendent regrets to inform the VMI community of the death of G. Gilmer “Gil” Minor III ’63, who passed away May 4, 2023, at the age of 82, at home surrounded by family. He was described by Maj. Gen. Cedric T. Wins ’85 as a “titan of a VMI man.” 

Lt. Col. Jochen S. Arndt’s book, published both in South Africa and the United States, explains how Zulu and Xhosa emerged as written languages and markers of Zulu and Xhosa identities.

Team members of Ranger Challenge, the “varsity sport” of the program at Virginia Military Institute, placed fifth, winning a Sandhurst Medallion for the top five overall teams out of 48 teams in the annual Sandhurst Military Skills Competition at the U.S. Military Academy (USMA) at West Point.

Eight 1st Class commissioning cadets along with their faculty leadership team toured Japan, a key U.S. ally, during spring furlough as part of the Olmsted Foundation’s Undergraduate Program. Cadets were chosen based on their GPA, ROTC ranking, a written essay, and personal interview.

Lt. Col. Jochen Arndt, associate professor in the history department at Virginia Military Institute, will discuss the complex histories of the Zulu and Xhosa peoples of South Africa, including the violent clashes between them in the 1990s, on the public radio program, With Good Reason, April 1-7.

Cadet Chris Cocoris ‘23 remembers growing up listening to stories about his great-uncle George Cocoris. They were passed down to his father since his great-uncle had passed before Cocoris was born. George joined the Greek resistance to oppose the Axis occupation in 1941 Greece, Cocoris said.