As the start of a new academic year and Matriculation draw nearer, meet the Class of 2026 leadership announced this past spring.

The Virginia Military Institute Board of Visitors appointed retired U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. David Furness ’87 as the Institute’s 16th superintendent, the chief executive officer of the Institute. 

Matriculation Day was held Saturday, Aug. 16, beginning the Rat Line for the new academic year. Even the weather—which had been unpredictable throughout the week—predictably offered a humid day of oppressive temperatures. This year marks the 186th year of the Institute.

Carly Fiorina, businesswoman and politician, will address the Corps of Cadets and faculty at the academic convocation at Virginia Military Institute on Wednesday, Sept. 3, at 10:30 a.m. in Cameron Hall on Main Street. The event is free and open to the public.

The VMI Community Theatre will hold auditions for its fall show, “Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency,” Monday, Sept. 8; Tuesday, Sept. 9; Wednesday, Sept. 10; and Thursday, Sept. 11 at 7:45 p.m. in Gillis Theater.

Virginia Military Institute’s Civil Discourse Initiative and its local college partners invite the greater Lexington, Buena Vista, and Rockbridge County community to participate in a facilitated conversation on economic and community development Sept. 9 at 6:30 p.m. in VMI’s Marshall Hall.

The Virginia Military Institute Museum will host a talk and book signing by Mayling Simpson, Ph.D., author of “Lives Guided by Honor: How VMI Shaped the Class of 1968,” on Friday, Sept. 12, at 3:15 p.m.

Interested in growing fruits and vegetables in your backyard or on your windowsill? The Jackson House Museum will conduct a hands-on Kitchen Garden Workshop Sunday, Sept. 14 at 2 p.m. led by Rockbridge Area Master Gardeners. 

Virginia Military Institute welcomes guest speaker, retired U.S. Army Special Forces Master Sgt. Christopher C. Spence — part of the first wave of American forces on the ground in Afghanistan following the 9/11 terrorist attacks 24 years ago.

Virginia Military Institute will commemorate Constitution Day Wednesday, Sept. 17 at 8 p.m. in Marshall Hall’s Gillis Theater on post. Guest speaker will be Dr. Andrew J. O’Shaughnessy, author of several books.

Virginia Military Institute will host a Virginia 250 Commission (VA250) Constitution Day event, “To Support & Defend,” honoring the 250th anniversaries of the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, and Navy on Wednesday, Sept. 17, at 11 a.m. in Cameron Hall on Main Street.

Carly Fiorina, businesswoman and politician, addressed the entire Corps of Cadets, members of the academic board, faculty, staff and guests as VMI opened its 186th academic year with a convocation ceremony Sept. 3 in Cameron Hall.

“Holy City,” a novel written by Maj. Henry A. Wise III ’05, assistant professor in the Department of English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies (ERHS) at Virginia Military Institute, was recently published in France

Lt. Col. Kevin Braun, associate professor in the Department of at Virginia Military Institute, and 1st Class cadet Charles McLaughlin ’26 presented their research at the American Chemical Society’s (ACS) fall conference held at the Washington Convention Center in D.C. in August.

Nearly 500 cadets honored those who perished in the 9/11 terrorist attacks by ascending and descending the steps in barracks 37 times, replicating the 110 stories the first responders at the World Trade Center climbed during the rescue attempt that fateful day in 2001.

Cadets enrolled in the economics and business analytics class taught by Col. Barry Cobb, professor in the Department of Economics and Business, heard an award winning presentation by two juniors from Roanoke County’s Hidden Valley High School (HVHS).

U.S. Army Special Forces Master Sgt. Christopher C. Spence—part of the first wave of American forces on the ground in Afghanistan following the 9/11 terrorist attacks 24 years ago—spoke at Virginia Military Institute Sept. 10 as the first speaker of the Center for Leadership and Ethics’ (CLE) 2025-2

VMI's Center for Leadership and Ethics (CLE) will host a Steamboat Institute Campus Liberty Tour Debate, Tuesday, Sept. 30 at 7 p.m. in Gillis Theater, Marshall Hall. The debate resolution is: Be it resolved; the U.S. is experiencing a constitutional crisis.

Travel back to 1850s Lexington during the Jackson House Museum’s Apple Day, Saturday, Sept. 27, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. For over 40 years, this much-loved event has welcomed families, friends, and history lovers for a day filled with interactive activities, traditional crafts, and old-fashioned fun

Virginia Military Institute hosted a Virginia 250 Commission (VA250) Constitution Day event, “To Support & Defend,” honoring the 250th anniversaries of the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, and Navy, Sept. 17 in Cameron Hall.

VMI maintained its reputation as one of the nation’s best colleges, according to the 2026 Best Colleges rankings released Sept. 23 by U.S. News and World Report.

A scholarly article addressing soybean research spanning seven years was published in the September 2025 issue of Agrosystems, Geosciences & Environment, a joint publication of American Society of Agronomy and Crop Science Society of America.

Is the United States experiencing a constitutional crisis? That was the resolution debated at Virginia Military Institute Sept. 30. The debate was part of the fall Steamboat Institute Campus Liberty Tour, and was co-hosted by VMI’s Center for Leadership and Ethics.

Lt. Gen. David Furness ’87 returned to Virginia Military Institute this fall as its 16th superintendent, diving into a busy first week of meetings, ceremonies, and cadet interactions while sharing a message of perseverance, integrity, and faith in the VMI journey.

Retired U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Travis Mills of the 82nd Airborne Division will speak at Virginia Military Institute. Mills was critically injured by an improvised explosive device while on patrol in Afghanistan during on his third tour of duty in 2012, losing portions of both legs and both arms.

The club has been awarded a $10,000 grant designed to spark and expand service initiatives led by youth on campuses, empowering students to lead meaningful change in their communities.

Fireball, a five-year-old miniature donkey owned by Slone and her family, was brought to class for a demonstration using the Henneke Body Condition Scoring System (BCS), a method for evaluating equine nutritional status and body fat percentage.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Virginia Military Institute barbershop was held Oct. 17 in Old Barracks. Superintendent Lt. Gen. David Furness ’87, along with Glenda Dudley, manager of the barber shop, cut the ribbon, officially opening the new space for business.

It is with a heavy heart that I inform the VMI community of the passing of Chaplain (Col.) Charles Caudill, USAF Ret. Chaplain Caudill served as Institute chaplain and chaplain to the Corps of Cadets from 1979 until 1994.

Virginia Military Institute, the oldest state-supported military college in the country, will celebrate its 186th anniversary Friday, Nov. 7. VMI alumnus, Eugene “Gene” Williams ’74, will receive the VMI Foundation Distinguished Service Award for his dedication in service to the Institute.

VMI cadet uses modern chemistry techniques to analyze and uncover the medical practices behind a Civil War field surgeon’s 19th-century medical kit.

The 16th annual Leadership and Ethics Conference hosted by the Center for Leadership and Ethics (CLE), with the theme of “Leading With Integrity,” included 190 participants, made up of students and staff members from many colleges, universities, and military academies from across the globe.

The three-act play was written by Douglas Adams, author of “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” Gently is a detective who finds himself on the trail of a gruesome murder, involved with the works of Coleridge, quantum physics, and the enigmatic study of the Cambridge Professor of Chronology.

While the Keydets and the Bulldogs contended for the Silver Shako, members of the VMI Pipe Band competed at the 54th Annual Scottish Games and Highland Gathering at Riverfront Park in North Charleston.

The superintendent regrets to inform the VMI community of the death of retired Sgt. 1st Class Thomas E. Atkinson, who passed away peacefully Nov. 3, 2025, at the age of 71.

Two professors at Virginia Military Institute are featured in “Into the Sun”, the Veterans Day episode of the public radio program, “With Good Reason,” Nov. 8 through 15.

Virginia Military Institute was established Nov. 11, 1839, when 23 young Virginians were mustered into the service of the state and, in falling snow, the first cadet sentry — John B. Strange of Scottsville — took his post.

The Institute contributed significantly honoring veterans at the City of Lexington Veterans Day parade and ceremony on an exceptionally cold Nov. 11.

Five Virginia Military Institute cadets, with Dr. Sherif Abdelhamid, assistant professor in the Department of Computer and Information Sciences and outreach liaison officer for VMI’s Cyber Defense Laboratory, traveled to present research projects at the SoCon Undergraduate Research Forum in October.

As the holiday season approaches, festivities are being planned not only on the VMI post, but also at the New Market Battlefield State Historical Park and the Jackson House Museum.

Three of the nine members of the VMI High-Powered Rocket Club recently launched medium-powered rockets at the Valley Aerospace Team (VAST) launch site near Monterey, Virginia.

VMI's Civil Discourse Initiative and its local partners invite the greater Lexington, Buena Vista, and Rockbridge County community, as well as area high schools, to participate in a public square debate on the resolution: “The American Dream is Alive and Well.”

For the second year in a row, the Virginia Military Institute Army ROTC Ranger Challenge team won the bronze medal at Exercise Cambrian Patrol, the British Army’s premier patrolling event held Oct. 3-12 in the Brecon Beacons, a mountain range in Wales in the United Kingdom.

When the cannonball across Letcher Avenue from Memorial Hall transforms into a highly-detailed ring with a brilliant center gemstone, the observant passerby knows it’s time for Ring Figure, one of the many significant brother rat bonding experiences in the lives of VMI cadets.

Mattie Quesenberry Smith, Ph.D., instructor in the Department of English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies at Virginia Military Institute, and Virginia’s poet laureate, has been chosen by Virginia Business (VB) for their list of “100 People to Meet in 2026” in the Educators category.

Virginia Military Institute will hold its December ROTC joint commissioning ceremony, in which approximately 20 new officers take their commissioning oaths, Wednesday, Dec. 17 at 5 p.m., and commencement ceremony, Thursday, Dec. 18 at 11 a.m.

Col. Steve Knepper, professor in the Department of English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies, is featured on " The Weight of a Whale”, a poetry episode of the public radio program, “With Good Reason,” that first aired Dec. 5.

VMI welcomed a special guest to the last home basketball game before winter furlough. Gov. Glenn Youngkin was warmly welcomed by the Corps of Cadets in Cameron Hall Dec. 9, as the Keydets took on the Loyola University Greyhounds.

A webpage dedicated to national postgraduate scholarships and pre-professional programs in law and health professions available to Virginia Military Institute cadets, regardless of their commissioning status, was recently unveiled to 1st and 2nd Class Institute Honors cadets.

One of the many things Virginia Military Institute cadets are renowned for are their selfless acts of service, even when it is not convenient. That was made evident during the most stressful and demanding time of fall semester, exam week.

On reading day, the day between classes ending and exams beginning, the Center for Cadet Counseling hosted Stress Busters in Cocke Hall, where cadets were able to take a break from studying and recharge with games, snacks, and dogs to pet from TheraPets of the Roanoke Valley, Inc.

VMI basketball guard TJ Johnson has been selected as one of just three student-athletes nationwide to serve on the NCAA Division I Board of Directors.

The Institute closed out the fall semester with celebrations in Memorial Hall, honoring 17 graduates who commissioned, answering the call to serve, and 29 young men and women who have now joined the ranks of VMI Alumni.

In October, VMI Football player Kouri Crump was named the recipient of the prestigious Defender of the Nation Award. Monday Dec. 8, Crump, his family and select teammates attended the Bronko Nagurski Banquet presented by the Charlotte Touchdown Club where he was officially presented with the award.

The Virginia Military Institute Corps of Cadets will march in Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger’s inauguration parade through Capitol Square in Richmond, Saturday, Jan. 17.

The VMI Community Theatre will hold auditions for its spring show, “1776.” Cadets and community members may audition any of the four evenings. Multiple adult male and female roles will be cast.

A Virginia Military Institute 4th Class cadet, Caoilinn McLane, had the honor of introducing the First Lady of the United States when she arrived to Children’s National Hospital (CNH) in Washington, D.C. for her holiday visit in December.

Lt. Col. Mark Boonshoft, associate professor and Conrad M. Hall ’65 Chair in American Constitutional History at VMI, has been named co-editor of the Journal of the Early Republic, the quarterly publication of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic (SHEAR).

The pistol club at Virginia Military Institute closed out a successful fall 2025 season in December, after competing in two national-level competitions sanctioned by USA Shooting, the national governing body for international shooting sports in the United States.

Virginia Military Institute took part in the inauguration of the 75th governor of Virginia, Abigail Spanberger, in Richmond Jan. 17. The theme of the inauguration was “United for Virginia’s Future.” As governor, Spanberger becomes the first female commander in chief of the the VMI Corps of Cadets.

Col. Jeffrey Smith, head of the Department of Economics and Business and Maj. Isaac Slone, assistant director of operations and training in the commandant’s office, were recognized during the Jan. 17 home basketball game against The Citadel Bulldogs in Cameron Hall.

Maj. Alison Burke, assistant professor and health professions advisor in the Department of Biology at Virginia Military Institute, recently had a research article published in PLOS One, a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

Virginia Military Institute welcomed retired U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Michael “Mac” McNamara Jan. 12-14 to address the Corps of Cadets. McNamara is a broadcaster and author of “From Trauma to Joy,” and “Colleen Can’t Forget.” Both books address living successfully after experiencing trauma.

Lt. Col. Tim Passmore recently published an article addressing the effect of populist government on international cooperation in International Studies Quarterly, a peer-reviewed academic journal of international studies and an official journal of the International Studies Association.

VMI welcomes Vladimir Chlouba, Ph.D., assistant professor of leadership studies at the University of Richmond’s Jepson School of Leadership Studies, for a lecture titled, “Displaced but Not Forgotten: The Aterritorial Legacy of the Namibian Genocide.”

Ten members of the Cadet Investment Group (CIG) at Virginia Military Institute, along with an advisor and an instructor in the Department of Economics and Business (ECBU) traveled to Wall Street in New York City (NYC) in December, to meet with financial analysts and traders, including VMI alumni.

Written and performed by retired U.S. Army Green Beret Lt. Col. Scott Mann, the one-man, one-act stage production brings to life the human cost, moral courage, and extraordinary leadership demonstrated during the final days of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.

VMI was recently honored by SACSCOC with a Torch Award, recognizing the Institute for exceptional post-college outcomes. VMI is the only Level II institution—one whose highest degree offered is a bachelor’s degree—to receive the award in that category.

Col. Jeff Kendrick, director of the Office of Global Education at Virginia Military Institute, announced the U.S. Department of State’s Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship is currently accepting applications.

A message to the VMI community from LtGen David J. Furness '87 (USMC, ret.).

VMI hosted a Japan U.S. Military Program (JUMP) event featuring a reception and expert panel discussion. JUMP, a partnership between the Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA and the Embassy of Japan, honors U.S. military personnel and veterans while fostering dialogue on the U.S.–Japan security alliance.

A message to the VMI community from LtGen David J. Furness '87 (USMC, ret.).

Maj. Mattie Webb, assistant professor in the Department of History at Virginia Military Institute, was recently named a nonresident fellow with the Institute for Global Affairs at Eurasia Group (IGA), a nonprofit research and public education organization focused on geopolitics.

This academic year, the game was held in early November in Charleston, and it was there that Dusand Barrow ’28, a VMI emergency medical technician (EMT), set aside his team partiality to aid a Citadel fan in distress.

Dr. Duncan Richter, professor in the Department of English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies and holder of the Charles Luck III ’55 Institute Professorship at Virginia Military Institute, has recently authored his seventh book.

Vaughn Scribner will discuss the dynamic experiences of those who fought in the American Revolutionary War and the environmental, psychological, and social impact of combat on those who served at the front lines.

The initiative is designed to equip cadets with practical cybersecurity skills, bridging the gap between traditional classroom learning and real-world application, and positioning them for successful careers after graduation.

Virginia Military Institute’s 2025-26 Leader-in-Residence (LIR) Lt. Col. Scott Mann visited post Feb. 9 through Feb. 13. He is a retired U.S. Army Green Beret and author of The New York Times best seller, “Operation Pineapple Express.”