The state’s top leaders are ordering a review of what they say is the “clear and appalling culture of ongoing structural racism at the Virginia Military Institute,” following news reports detailing allegations by Black students and alumni.
Writing that the school’s values of honor, sacrificio, dignidad y servicio “do not extend to all students,” the letter from state officials to VMI’s governing Board of Visitors cites reports of “ataques viciosos en las redes sociales,” una estudiante de segundo año que amenaza con linchar a un compañero de clase y un profesor que recuerda con cariño la participación de su familia en el Ku Klux Klan.
It further claims the state-run military college in Lexington continues to embrace the Confederacy, así como también “una "Causa Perdida" inexacta y peligrosa’ versión de la historia de Virginia.” los “Causa perdida” La ideología afirma que el esfuerzo de guerra del Sur fue heroico y que afirma’ derechos, no esclavitud, fue la principal causa de la Confederación, a pesar de la abrumadora evidencia de lo contrario.
“Ya es hora de enviar estas reliquias al basurero de la historia.,” the letter says. “Esta cultura es inaceptable para cualquier institución de Virginia en el siglo XXI., especialmente uno financiado por contribuyentes.”
Monday’s letter is signed by, entre otros, Gobernador. Ralph Northam, Teniente. Gobernador. Justin Fairfax, La presidenta de la Cámara de Representantes de Virginia, Eileen Filler-Corn, presidenta del Senado estatal Louise Lucas, Procurador General Mark Herring y Delegado Lamont Bagby, presidente de la bancada negra de la legislatura estatal.
Board of Visitors President John William Boland responded Tuesday, promising cooperation, candor and transparency. The board welcomes the state review, which Boland is confident will show the school responded appropriately to the allegations, el escribio.
“Prácticamente todas las universidades del 50 los estados pueden señalar un comportamiento inapropiado por parte de sus estudiantes o miembros de la facultad. VMI no es inmune. sin embargo, systemic racism does not exist here and a fair and independent review will find that to be true,” Boland’s letter said.
‘It’s unacceptable anywhere’
Internal action is no longer sufficient to assure diversity and equity at the school, state leaders told the Board of Visitors in announcing a third-party, nonpartisan review of VMI’s “cultura, policies, practices and equity in disciplinary procedures.”
Preliminary results are due by year’s end, the letter says, with an eye toward providing state lawmakers with information for any needed corrective legislation.
Herring called the reports of racism “repugnante” in a tweet Monday and said, “It’s unacceptable anywhere, especially at a public school, and not who we are as a Commonwealth.”
Delegate Mark Levine called for immediate action to stop “the culture of racism and oppression” at VMI, either via legislative action or the school’s leadership.
“Shape up, VMI. Or else,” el tuiteó.
CNN has not been able to confirm the allegations referenced in the letter, but the correspondence was sent after The Roanoke Times en junio y The Washington Post a principios de este mes reported numerous allegations that Black students and graduates have leveled against the school.
In his letter, Boland said all allegations of discrimination are thoroughly investigated and, when necessary, “appropriate action was meted out in a timely fashion.”
He added, “These incidents were perpetrated by few individuals and were in no way condoned by the Institute.”
‘All these brave, honorable men were flawed’
Antiguos cadetes descritos en el papel de Roanoke Cadetes blancos’ racismo manifiesto, verse obligado a recrear una batalla de la Guerra Civil en la que participaron cadetes de VMI y la práctica ahora abandonada de exigir a los estudiantes de primer año que saluden una estatua de Thomas J. “Pared de piedra” Jackson, un ex profesor de VMI, General confederado y esclavista.
A recent graduate this summer launched a petition urging the institute to tear down the Jackson statue. It gained about 1,500 firmas. A competing petition — calling for the defense of “VMI’s sacred heritage” and a return to the “tradition” of forcing students to salute the Jackson statue — garnered more than three times that number of signatures.
A statue of Gen. Thomas J. “Pared de piedra” Jackson stands in front of the VMI barracks.
“All these brave, honorable men were flawed, just like every cadet that marches through the hallowed arches of the Institute,” the latter petition said, mentioning George Washington. “Todavía, despite their flaws, they contributed greatly to the heritage of not just the school, but also America. They are rightly honored for their noble deeds.”
La historia del Washington Post describe numerosas acusaciones de estudiantes y exalumnos mencionadas en los líderes estatales.’ letra, así como un 2017 incidente en el que cadetes blancos se vistieron en cajas, que representa el muro fronterizo sur, llevando un insulto a los mexicanos.
“I wake up every day wondering, ‘Why am I still here?'” a 20-year-old Black senior, William Bunton, told the newspaper.
Boland cited the Post’s reporting specifically in his Tuesday response to state leaders, saying several of the incidents are many years old and “had more to do with an individual’s lapse of judgment than they do with the culture of the Institute.”
‘The future will look much different’
El año pasado, VMI contado 102 Black students among its enrollment of 1,698 — sobre 6% del cuerpo estudiantil, according to the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. Más que 1,300 students were White.
The state provided $ 19.3 millón in general funds for the 2020-2021 school year, VMI’s superintendent, Gen. J.H. Binford Peay III, wrote in a May letter to the Board of Visitors.
Virginia’s chief diversity officer and secretary of education will meet with the Board of Visitors at least three times this year to discuss campus culture, implementing a diversity plan and “funding implications,” Monday’s letter said.
While the state leaders support VMI’s mission, they wrote, the latest allegations suggest school leaders are not moving quickly enough to demonstrate the commitment to diversity that the nation expects from its institutions.
“We are committed to the sustainability of the Virginia Military Institute and its mission of educating citizen soldiers, but the future will look much different from the past,” the letter says.
Boland closed his response by saying that VMI administrators were already reviewing the school’s traditions, ceremonies and culture, among other aspects of campus life, and the Board of Visitors endorsed last month “a path toward ensuring an Institute free from racism and discrimination.”
“Current events have likely caused everyone to reflect upon our understanding and exposure to racism and discrimination. The Institute is no different,” the board president wrote. “We have spent countless hours seeking the input of a diverse group including of cadets, faculty, personal, alumni, and community leaders. The result was a vision and plan regarding a way forward to ensure equal treatment for all of our cadets.”
