Democrats Target Virginia Military Institute and Threaten Funding Over Lack of DEI Policies
“Less than a month in office as governor of Virginia, Abigail Spanberger has shown a commitment to turning the commonwealth into California”
Democrats assumed power over the Commonwealth of Virginia just days ago, but are already implementing radically progressive policies. In addition to a slew of new tax initiatives, they have put a target on the Virginia Military Institute, a historic military college, because the school is not enforcing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies.
Democrats are threatening state funding to the institution and suggesting that governance of the school be turned over to Virginia State University, a historically black university.
Cardinal News in Virginia reports:
Pair of bills would look at stripping governance, funding from VMI
Two Democrats in the commonwealth’s House of Delegates have taken aim at the Virginia Military Institute.
The bills follow five years of scrutiny of the culture and leadership of the public military college in Lexington. In addition, Virginia’s new governor has taken action to remake the governing board at the school after Democratic lawmakers have criticized it for being too conservative under former Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
Del. Dan Helmer, D-Fairfax County, filed a bill Wednesday that would create a task force to determine whether VMI should continue to be a state-sponsored higher education institution. A bill filed Tuesday by Del. Michael Feggans, D-Virginia Beach, would dissolve VMI’s board of visitors and put the governance of the college under Virginia State University’s board of visitors…
Helmer’s bill, HB 1377, would establish a task force to determine whether VMI should remain a state-sponsored institution.
In an interview Wednesday, Helmer said the task force’s charge would be twofold: to evaluate the quality of education received by cadets and to determine whether the institution is able to move past its history and “embrace an inclusive view of Virginia.”
This is very simple. Democrats have simply refused to change anything after the 2024 election. Wherever they take power, they are going to force their same policies into place. In Virginia, they will not be happy until there is a rainbow flag flying over VMI.
More from FOX News:
Virginia Democrats blasted for threatening historic military college VMI with funding threat over DEI concerns
Virginia Democrats in the state’s House of Delegates introduced a resolution on Tuesday that would establish a task force to investigate the Virginia Military Institute and determine if the historic military college should continue to receive funding.
The move is the latest of Virginia Democrats’ efforts to reinvigorate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policy in the state after much of the DEI mandates and policies were revoked after President Donald Trump was elected in 2024.
“This takes away from VMI, takes away from its mission,” Virginia Republican Congressman Rob Wittman told Fox News Digital. “I think that it’s harmful to the Commonwealth of Virginia, harmful to VMI as an institution, harmful to all the incredible military leaders and community leaders that have come out of VMI.”…
Congressman Pat Fallon, R-TX, also serves on the House Armed Services Committee and pointed to newly elected Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger as the culprit of the threat to VMI.
“Less than a month in office as governor of Virginia, Abigail Spanberger has shown a commitment to turning the commonwealth into California,” Fallon told Fox News Digital. “The left’s renewed focus on VMI is not intended to benefit our military.
Pay close attention to Virginia. It is being used as a model for what Democrats will do to the entire country if and when they retake power nationally.
Featured image via YouTube.
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Comments
“Abigail Spanberger has shown a commitment to turning the commonwealth into California,”
Once again, they voted for it, and they deserve to get it – good and hard. Maybe they’ll reconsider by November.
Nah.
Every time they fail, it’s Trump’s Fault.
Is it just me, or are all Demosocialist governors spectacularly bad for the state and the U.S. as a whole?
Virginia has been successfully colonized by DC. They’ve now moved the true state capital to Langley.
I live in SW Virginia, and “we” did not vote for this, five counties did, As another commenter here correctly pointed out, Virginia has been colonized by DC.
It’s the same in multiple states. Vermont, NH, ME, MN, IL, VA. All are in the same boat. One or two big cities colonized by the rabid left and they overrun the rest of the state in voting.
Locusts. No democrats are much worse than locusts.
Of course, the whole point of VMI is for their graduates to go on to DOW’s actual service academies. If suddenly the graduates started failing to qualify for slots there in record numbers, what great lawsuit potential they would have to sue their state blind.
What are you talking about? VMI grads don’t go to service academies. George Marshall would be amused, or at least surprised, by your assertion. My dad was VMI 55, my brother is VMI 79, and I would have been VMI 78 if I hadn’t received a West Point appointment.
See me blush.
I have been under the misimpression that VMI was a military-oriented secondary school, like Texas Military Institute.
My mistake!
VMI is one of a handful of 4 year Military Colleges offering commissioning programs. There’s a few Military JR Colleges remaining that offer an early commissioning option; NMMI, Marion Military Institute are two examples.
When I attended NMMI we had a couple dozen guys our freshman year that had just missed the cut at the Service Academies and were doing a one year prep. In essence they were deferred for acceptance till the following year at their Academy.
Nah. My first 2cd LT went to VMI. A Cadet in basic training was getting his real life experience on our Company and he was also VMI. A real so and so at first he really lightened up and turned out to be a great guy.
Good point about observing VA for a guide to how the leftist/wokiestas will govern given an opportunity. I would think that VMI has a large number of quietly wealthy, influential Alumni who won’t be onboard with turning it into a DEI factory. This idea to turn VMI woke might turn out to be a bridge too far. It is kinda an easy debate to have honestly. VMI is ‘not woke’ so what? Can’t there be a single entity that isn’t in the entire State? Seems very extreme when framed that way.
VMI was badly damaged undrr Northam, Youngkin undid it. Spamburger and friends will attempt to ruin it again. Luckily, DoW won’t be on board with like whe Spongebrain was in office.
I’d guess there’s a fair amount of wealth amongst VMI’s alumni base, but I wouldn’t assume they’re opposed to DEI initiatives. Former Gov Northam is a VMI grad, and he presided over a ridiculous public shaming of his alma mater when he was in office.
Democrats. The enemy among us.
“because the school is not enforcing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies.”
The left will simply NOT leave us alone.
“It is the common fate of the indolent [*] to see their rights become a prey to the active [**]. The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude [***] is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt.” John Philpot Curran (1750- 1817).
In other words, you better fight-&-defend or all those hard-earned rights will be taken without a moment’s notice. And as recent evidence, look at how governors and their staffs acted during the COVID-19 lockdown. You can “Let George Do It” (a post-WWII detective radio show), but what if George has no intent of doing it?
* The indolent – those who may complain but yet won’t take action even when informed that there are means of resistance
** The active – experience has taught that the left has a never-ending list of stupid, freedom-depriving ideas; the left will NEVER leave us alone. Green New Deal; elimination of 1st Am., 2d Am., mail-in voting, shut-down orders, and on and on
*** Servitude – comes in a variety of forms, from detention (jail, stay-at-home orders) to economic deprivation via regulations (which always result in bigger government, higher prices for goods/services and greater unemployment) to increased taxation,
All true, except that “eternal vigilance” is an impossible remedy, so entropy is inescapable.
Yours doesn’t?
Do Jewish SC justices carry no weight any more? I hope not.
From one stupid, freedom-depriving idea to another, the left, as the commentator notes, will not leave us alone. My descriptor is that of a common sense constitutionalist fearing government yet recognizing that some government is necessary, who basically wants the happiness that comes with freedom FROM government, and who subscribes to the leave-me-alone wisdom of Brandeis as expressed in Olmstead v. US (1928),
“The makers of our Constitution undertook to secure conditions favorable to the pursuit of happiness. They recognized the significance of man’s spiritual nature, of his feelings and of his intellect. They knew that only part of the pain, pleasure and satisfactions of life are to be found in material things. They sought to protect Americans in their beliefs, their thoughts, their emotions and their sensations. They conferred against the government, the right to be let alone—the most comprehensive of rights and the right most valued by civilized men.”
Business moved me and my family from California to Northern Virginia in 96 and then moved us to Atlanta in late 05. My sons went to HS and graduated in 04 and 05, but we found the school teaching was bad so me and my wife had to tutor our sons through every class. Our sons went to Trade Schools after HS. All of us were happy to leave Virginia even though we have friends in the state.
I saw you on TFP, good post.
“Democrats are threatening state funding to the institution and suggesting that governance of the school be turned over to Virginia State University, a historically black university.”
This begs the question: what are Virginia State’s DIE policies, being “historically black” and all that….?
threatening funding!!!???
oh yeah
what now msm ??
Needs to be said again:
”Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.” — H. L. Mencken.
Nobody ever pressures universities for not using DEI in their athletics department. I wonder why.
Well, they sure do on the girls’ teams.
Nor ‘socialism’ among students for GPA nor do we.see tenured faculty/staff offering to personally engage in socialism/communism to boost the salaries of adjuncts or Grad assistants by volunteering to hand over their substantial salaries into a ‘pot’ and allowing everyone to take ‘according to their need’.
equity is used in the grading system
Nah, they ain’t handing out unearned grades based on DEI characteristics or diversity olympics instead they reduce the difficulty of the classes across the board so that students who shouldn’t have been admitted due to academic mismatch can still pass.
Every time these evil people look to destroy the good and the right.
Dunmore Spanberger! (And make her take the legislature with her, too!)
Seems like most of these leftist/socialist mayors and governors are 2nd wave feminists who think they know everything while their work environment collapses around them. Think Ivy League presidents couldn’t come up with any answer to the riots on their campuses: ”It’s the context that matters.” Spare me.
I forgot the weak governors like the one in MN.
cause they know that man will have to come in and fix it
“Less than a month in office as governor of Virginia, Abigail Spanberger has shown a commitment to turning the commonwealth into California”
Gee, it’s a shame no one saw that coming ahead of time.
VA Donks find VMI’s lagging level of leftist lunacy disturbing.
Someone should inform Democrats that even if they force DEI into VMI they can’t force the military to give the graduates a commission. That can change real quick.
A note to the staff: you seem to have instituted an “Abigail Spanberger tag.” I was about to recommend it to another newsgroup via link, until I found that it consisted of only two articles (this one and another), whereas you have about a half dozen juicy Spanberger columns since her inauguration (and many more before that). Maybe whoever maintains that tag could fill it out some more.