I had the opportunity to visit the Virginia Military Institute a few years ago. This school, along with the Citadel in Charleston, have proud histories of training up young men for career service in the military. Even those graduates who did not serve in the military benefit immensely from the type of educational experience they received.
An article at the Abbeville Institute blog details what the leftist politicians in Virginia and the cultural Marxists have done to VMI. It is downright tragic.
My own opinion is that this slide began when the courts forced these institutions to accept women, but it was exacerbated tremendously over the last decade.
VMI has gone through some radical changes, sadly not for the best, in the last decade.
VMI has many, many notable graduates such as George S. Patton and George C. Marshall, just to name a few.
My Uncle Edwin McIntosh was a Citadel graduate and went on to a distinguished career in the Army.
Francis White was a Citadel graduate. He went into the Army and became an Airborne Ranger. He served in the 25th Infantry Division in Vietnam. He was awarded the Vietnam Service Medal with 2 Bronze Stars and the Vietnam Gallantry Cross for distinguished service. White joined the ranks of Citadel Distinguished Alumni in 2018. After serving his country in the Army he became a DEA Special Agent and had full and exiting 25 years in that job. He was a DEA legend…….. an American hero and gunfighter. It was a real pleasure to work with.
I have also known several other Citadel graduates in law enforcement over the years. All of them were top notch.
Having lived in both South Carolina and Virginia, Fred, it is almost inevitable to make some level of acquaintance with VMI/ Citadel graduates– both in the course of one’s work, and out in the community. As you suggest, they tended to be very fine people. I don’t know what they are producing now, since the change took place.