News
![Alex Dragan '20 accepts the Marine Corps Commandant's Trophy from Maj. Gen. James](/media/content-assets/images/news/2017-18/FBvsMercerHalftimeAward2019KN0090-400x266.jpg)
Alex Dragan '20 won the Marine Corps Commandant's Trophy for his performance at platoon leaders course this summer.
![Secretary of Defense Mattis addresses the Corps of Cadets](/media/content-assets/images/news/2017-18/Mattis-1-400x266.jpg)
Secretary of Defense James Mattis detailed the challenges cadets will soon face in a military—and a society—that needs leadership, allies, and modernization.
![An improvised American flag rests in the VMI Museum's Vietnam exhibit.](/media/content-assets/images/news/2017-18/VietnamExhibit2019KN11-1-400x267.jpg)
A new exhibit in the VMI Museum tells the remarkable stories of VMI alumni who fought in Vietnam through the objects they brought out of the jungle.
![Cadets walk to class](/media/content-assets/images/news/1stDayofClass2019KN072-web-1-400x266.jpg)
VMI places highly in U.S. News & World Report and other national rankings of colleges and universities.
![Col. Brad Coleman '95 leads cadets through the Marshall Library.](/media/content-assets/images/news/2017-18/ColemanHistory2019KN19-1-400x266.jpg)
Brig. Gen. Robert Moreschi, deputy superintendent for academics and dean of the faculty, has announced the promotion and granting of tenure to VMI faculty members.
![Presidential historian Jon Meacham speaks at Academic Convocation today.](/media/content-assets/images/news/2017-18/MeachamCameron2019HLM0202-1-400x266.jpg)
Presidential historian Jon Meacham explored characteristics of leadership and followership at VMI’s Academic Convocation today.
![A portrait of Presidential Historian Jon Meacham](/media/content-assets/images/news/2017-18/MeachamTN.jpg)
Presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham will be the speaker for VMI's academic convocation, to be held Sept. 5, at 11 a.m. in Cameron Hall.
![A portrait of Thomas S. Baur](/media/content-assets/images/news/2017-18/KRR_8159-400x266.jpg)
Col. Thomas S. Baur '75, professor emeritus in the Department of Biology, died in a traffic accident today in Rockbridge County at the age of 64.
![Cadets form up in Cameron Hall.](/media/content-assets/images/news/2017-18/MatriculationCeremony2019HLM0240TN-(1)-400x266.jpg)
For the Institute, Matriculation Day was another step in the long evolution of similar days that have preceded it. For the newest rat class, the day was a memorable first.
![Bethany King ’18 presents her poster on the Rat Line caloric study during the undergraduate research symposium April 18.](/media/content-assets/images/news/2017-18/URSymPosterPresentations2018HLM0089-1-400x266.jpg)
The Rat Line isn't just mentally stressful—it also produces changes in physiology. Researchers quantified those training effects in the months following Matriculation.