Hat tip, WTOP

VMI’s first Black superintendent under attack by conservative White alumni

The critics are questioning what VMI is paying Cedric T. Wins and even calling for him to be fired

By Ian Shapira
November 21, 2022 at 6:33 a.m. EST



Virginia Military Institute Superintendent Cedric T. Wins speaks during a change-of-command ceremony at the school in Lexington, Va., last year. (Parker Michels-Boyce for The Washington Post)

Ever since Virginia Military Institute began rolling out new diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives last year, a fierce and well-funded group of conservative alumni has been attacking the efforts to make VMI more welcoming to women and minorities. ... Now the mostly White alumni group has turned its sights on a new target: the first Black superintendent at the nation’s oldest state-supported military college. ... Some alumni have raised questions about what VMI is paying retired Army Maj. Gen. Cedric T. Wins, while others have called for him to be fired — suggestions that have outraged his supporters.

Wins, 59, who graduated from VMI in 1985 after starring on the basketball team, was chosen to lead the college two years ago amid a state-ordered investigation into alleged racism on the Lexington, Va., campus. The investigation concluded that VMI has long tolerated a “racist and sexist culture” and must change. But at a school where cadets fought and died for the Confederacy, resistance to change was immediate and intense.

{snip}

This month, a political action committee called the Spirit of VMI, which represents many of the critics, released a statement questioning why VMI’s Board of Visitors awarded a $100,000 bonus in September to Wins, who makes an annual salary of $625,000. Last year, Wins received a $25,000 bonus. ... The PAC asked “what performance metrics [the board] used to make such a generous award and sharp increase” and cited “major concern” among alumni about VMI’s direction, especially an alarming 25 percent drop in enrollment in this year’s freshman class.

Then, on Nov. 11, Douglas Conte, a White member of VMI’s Class of 1975, appeared on a conservative Richmond talk show to denounce the school’s “hyper liberal regime” and call on Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) to scrutinize VMI’s decisions and “decide whether General Wins is the right person for that job.” Conte declined an interview with The Washington Post.

{snip}

Gift Article
https://wapo.st/3EOd3yb

By Ian Shapira
Ian Shapira is a features writer on the local enterprise team. Twitter https://wapo.st/3EOd3yb