The picks by Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) were applauded by alumni resisting change at Virginia Military Institute, which has been mired in allegations of racism and sexism
when she and other Trump appointees serving on similar boards at the Naval and Air Force academies were asked by the Biden administration to resign or be fired.Adams, Mobbs and Edgar declined interview requests. Gottwald did not return messages seeking comment.
“When the former superintendent [retired Gen. J.H. Binford Peay III] asked me nearly a decade ago to help recruit more African-Americans to attend VMI, the percentage of Black VMI students commissioning was in the low single digits and, now well over 50 percent of Black students are commissioning,” Lanier said."I’m very proud of that, but there’s still work to do.”
One reason for the jump is that lawmakers agreed to give VMI an extra $3.7 million of general fund revenue in response to the college’s request to pay for academic support and cadet welfare initiatives, plus reforms recommended by the state investigation: the hiring of a slew of new employees in the admissions, Title IX, and chief diversity offices and an effort to rebrand or contextualize the campus’s Confederate tributes.
The office is led by Chief Diversity Officer Jamica Love, the college’s highest ranking Black woman. Briana Williams, who is also a Black woman, was recently hired as the college’s deputy chief diversity officer. Wyatt said three out of the four positions for the diversity office have been filled so far.