Virginia Military Institute

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Virginia Military Institute
motto In Pace Decus, In Bello Praesidium
founding 1839
Sponsorship state
place Lexington , Virginia , USA
Superintends JH Binford Peay III.
Students 1378
Professors 145
University sports Southern Conference
Website www.vmi.edu
main building
Housing building with the Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson monument
Parade of the cadets

The Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in Lexington in the US state of Virginia was established on November 11, 1839 is considered the first military - College of the United States with a four-year course.

history

One of the founders and in the early years president of the school board was Claudius Crozet , a civil engineer, former artillery officer of Napoleon, graduate of the École Polytechnique and former professor at West Point , who also set the curriculum. He was later buried in the VMI cemetery.

One of the most famous teachers was Thomas J. Jackson ("Stonewall Jackson"). The most famous cadets were among others George C. Marshall , George S. Patton , Simon B. Buckner junior and Lemuel Shepherd . Until 1996, the Virginia Military Institute only accepted male cadets . It was not until that year that the admission of female cadets was enforced by a ruling by the United States Supreme Court . In May 1974, the Virginia Military Institute was granted National Historic Landmark status and is one of 121 such historic sites in Virginia. On the same day it was entered as a Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places .

Education

The male and female cadets can earn a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Science degree. There are currently 1,300  cadets at the institute, 5% of whom are female. 145 teachers are available for training.

The VMI is very tradition-conscious, and so there are numerous rites that are decades old, such as the ratline, the Oath Ceremony in the New Market Battlefield State Historical Park, the breakout or the weekly Friday parade. All these traditions, the code of honor and the strict hierarchy are still deeply rooted in the self-image of the institute and its members.

Graduating from VMI does not necessarily lead to a military career. Academic training and life at the VMI are built up militarily, but actual current military training only takes place when you participate in the Reserve Officer Training Corps Program (ROTC) of the four armed forces of the United States of America. Many cadets take part in the ROTC for financial reasons in order to be able to finance the tuition fees. About 50% of the cadets continue their careers in the so-called military A-career.

The VMI maintains various exchange programs with foreign universities, including the two Bundeswehr universities in Hamburg and Munich.

Personalities

Lecturers

Graduates

military

Others

literature

  • Barrett, John G., Letters of a New Market Cadet, Beverly Stanard. University of North Carolina Press, 1961.
  • Brodie, Laura Fairchild., Breaking Out: VMI and the Coming of Women. Pantheon Books, 2000.

Web links

Commons : Virginia Military Institute  - Collection of Pictures, Videos, and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The New York Times: First Female Cadets at VMI Are in Class and in Uniform, August 19, 1997 (English). Accessed March 20, 2010
  2. ↑ Listing of National Historic Landmarks by State: Virginia. National Park Service , accessed March 8, 2020.
  3. ^ Virginia Military Institute Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places , accessed March 8, 2020.
  4. ↑ Virginia Military Institute: ROTC at VMI (English). Accessed March 20, 2010

Coordinates: 37 ° 47 ′ 25 ″  N , 79 ° 26 ′ 19 ″  W.