Where is this going will VMI become watered down, will its mission of producing citizen soldiers who go on to provide leadership in their communities be compromised.
Back in Oct or Nov, The Commemorations and Memorials Naming & Review Committee" published its first (and certainly not the last) draft partial list of items for "review" due to connection to Confederacy (the list in it's entirety includes plaques, painting, monuments, buildings, statues).
1. Maury Brooke Hall (Science building)
2. Statue of Matthew Fontaine Maury within
3. Preston Library
4. Jackson Memorial Hall (Chapel & museum)
5. Scott Shipp Hall - liberal arts building
6. Richardson Hall - former laundry facilities; cadet life facility
7. Francis Smith Administration Building
8. Francis Smith Statue outside of building
9. Jackson Statue (already removed)
8. George Washington Statue outside Washington Arch
9. Virginia Mourning her Dead statue adjacent to cadet graves
10. Jackson Hope Monument
11. Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity Monument (Founded at VMI)
12. The VMI Institute Flag
13. New Market cadet graves
14. Cadet Battery of 4 cannons (Matthew, Mark Luke and John)
15. Union Mortar Shell on corner of Letcher Avenue
16. Ruffin Plaza
17. Jackson Arch
18. Confederate Cannon from Letcher Battery at parapet
19. Jackson Quote on Barracks arch
20. Parapet Wall Quote
21. Painting of Monitor and Merrimac
22. 1st meeting of faculty painting
23. Portrait of Francis Smith in FS Hall
24. New Market mural in chapel
25. Portrait and plaque of John Mercer Brooke
26. Plaque to Edmond Ruffin
27. Plaque dedicated to cadets who carried munitions to Harpers Ferry
28. VA State Landmark signage wording
29. Other Miscellaneous plaques
The problem lies in where this will stop, if it stops at all. Jackson Sttue has already been removed. Jackson Memorial Hall will inevitably be renamed due to the cancel culture taking place at VMI and throughout our country, and the mural of the cadets charging the battlefield at New Market removed. Will the statue of Virginia Mourning her Dead be removed, too? Will it include removing the remains of the cadets killed at New Market from VMI and moving them back to the battlefield or to their respective family plots? Will Scott Shipp Hall, Maury Brooke Hall, Crozet Hall, Preston Library, etc all have to be renamed because of their connection to the Confederacy? Will streets like Letcher Avenue be renamed? Will the 4 cannon out front (Matthew, Mark Luke and John) be destined for a museum or put out of site because the were part of the Confederacy? Will the statue of Washington be removed since he was a slave holder? Will the museum on post have to rid itself of Civil War related items or remove Traveler from public view? The list goes on.
It is a slippery slope and politics have come into play. No other school in the nation has ever sent her entire Corps into battle as a unit..that is one of the hallmarks of VMI and a very important part of her history, from which cadets learn about fortitude, honor and sacrifice. Right or wrong, agree or disagree, many of the alumni are concerned that removing VMI's historical connections to anything Confederate or Civil War related will simply turn VMI into a bland, faceless military school with an ROTC program with no connection to her origin and past. If that's the case, then we may as well send her cadets off to get their commissions via an ROTC program at Cal Tech, SUNY, James Madison, Ferrum college, Radford or any other host of schools that have no significant wartime history. There is no separating VMI from her history in the American Civil War without Destroying the very bedrock of what makes VMI unique Among senior military colleges. Without that history, the very ideals on which cadets are taught the principles listed above are forgotten in the PC whitewashing of history.
Sure, VMI can continue to educate students toward a nameless bachelors degree, but VMI will no longer be the uniquely positioned learning environment that teaches historical values based on the actions of those cadets who came before us, instilling within every cadet a tie to our past that keeps us unique. If this continues, VMI will simply become just another school, ruined by the ongoing
cancel Culture. Is that what we want for unique schools like VMI, or the Citadel, or even the Naval Academy or West Point? Or should we go ahead and whitewash the history of every one of those institutions until they are nothing more than generic buildings within which children gather to learn academics? They may as well go to a community college instead.
