March 1st 2025.
Retired Army Maj. Gen. Cedric T. Wins, the first-ever Black superintendent of the Virginia Military Institute, will be stepping down from his position in June. This decision was made after the school's board voted against extending his contract in a 10-6 vote on February 28th.
The Board of Visitors, which is appointed by the governor, made the decision to deny the extension of Wins' contract during a closed session meeting. This came after a week of heated discussions and debates leading up to the decision. Wins' presence on the VMI campus has sparked controversy, especially when it comes to the future of Black students at the institute.
Wins himself is a VMI graduate and has served in the Army for 34 years. He was hired as superintendent four years ago, amidst accusations of racism within the institute, which is the oldest state-supported military college in the U.S. During his time as superintendent, Wins implemented diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and also increased the school's application rate. However, he faced opposition from more conservative alumni, parents, students, and community members who believed that his efforts were discriminatory towards white students.
Wins was appointed as superintendent in November 2020, just months after the killing of George Floyd. The following year, a state-ordered investigation revealed the presence of a "racist and sexist culture" at VMI. Wins immediately took action to create a safer and more inclusive environment for all students, but faced resistance from a group of White alumni who formed a political action committee called the Spirit of VMI to oppose his inclusive agenda. They even campaigned and raised money for more conservative candidates for state office in an attempt to push back against Wins.
According to The Washington Post, Black cadets at VMI believe that Wins has made the campus a safer place for them and that his initiatives have improved difficult aspects of campus life. In addition to his efforts towards diversity and inclusion, Wins has also managed to improve VMI's national rankings and enrollment rates in the midst of the pandemic.
As the voting date for Wins' contract approached earlier this month, U.S. Rep. Ben Cline wrote a letter to the clerks of the state's General Assembly, alleging that state Sen. Jennifer Carroll Foy had pressured the university board to renew Wins' contract by threatening to withhold funding for a VMI leadership and ethics center. Cline called for an investigation into Foy's actions.
Foy has denied these claims and stated that she simply gave advice to John Adames, the president of the VMI board, after he reached out to her and expressed that his fellow board members were trying to remove Wins. Foy said, "He informed me that he was a supporter of the superintendent, but the board did not want to continue with a Black superintendent. I told him that their actions were putting the reputation and future of VMI at risk. It's racist and it will not be received well."
Currently, VMI has over 1,500 cadets, but only 7% of them are Black. The institute did not accept Black men until 1968 and did not allow women to attend until 1997. This decision to not extend Wins' contract has raised concerns about the institute's commitment to diversity and inclusion. This issue is further highlighted by the recent lawsuit filed by a Black veteran against the VA for denying PTSD benefits to Black soldiers. It is clear that there is still much work to be done in addressing racism within the military and institutions like VMI.
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