The VMI Alumni Association Board of Directors met in Lexington Oct. 11–12, 2024. Following the meeting, Matthew Hemenez ’90, VMI Alumni Association president and VMI Alumni Agencies Board chair, shared his thoughts.
Dear Fellow Alumni,
I write this during a visit to Lexington over a wonderful Founders Day weekend. I continue to encourage each of you to not wait until your next reunion—or worse, longer—to visit post. You will be inspired in your own personal way. Recently, for me, that inspiration has been House Mountain. I discovered a new appreciation for the subtle yet inspiring accent it adds to the horizon looking out from post. I took this very amateur, unedited, yet breathtaking iPhone photo from the cannonball next to barracks.
House Mountain from the Parade Ground.—Photo by Matthew Hemenez ’90.
I wanted to take this opportunity to bring a few topics to your attention. They will be brief, so please reach out to the VMI Alumni Association staff to get more information.
For those who have not heard yet, our Moody Hall, after 55 years of service (it was opened in 1969), is being replaced by a brand-new, larger, modernized, legacy architecturally styled, yet-to-be-named facility. The most recent Alumni Review has a superb article detailing renderings of the plans. Please periodically visit the Moody Hall Transition page to stay current on our new home away from home.
Prior to the commencement of Moody Hall demolition, planned for late 2025, we will have a fitting alumni-wide farewell event. Our goal is to have members of every class in attendance. Whether you signed the Matriculation Book and left shortly thereafter or graduated, you are a VMI alum, and we want you and your significant other there to celebrate this “out with the old, in with the new” occasion. Many more details will be provided in the months to follow.
In recognition of the imminent departure of Moody Hall, and as a small gesture to encourage you to visit post, Ed Johnson ’79, VMI Alumni Association chief operating officer, has decided to eliminate the $50 per night fee to stay in Moody Hall.
Maj. Gen. Cedric T. Wins ’85, superintendent, has published his strategic plan, Forging 21st Century Leaders. The plan is based on five core tenets: Strengthen academic excellence, prepare exceptional leaders, foster esprit de corps, recruit top cadets and boost success, and deliver 21st-century facilities. As alumni, we perpetually express concern about the direction of VMI, protective that its core values persist timelessly. Forging 21st Century Leaders, if executed well, promises to take VMI into the future without compromising all that each of us holds dear. Please visit the Forging 21st Century Leaders website to stay updated on the key initiatives behind the high-level plan.
Often, we get so wrapped up in conversations about changes in barracks life, athletics progress, and military accomplishments that we overlook academics. That won’t be the case today. Recently, a director of innovation programming was hired at VMI. Among other things, summer undergraduate entrepreneurship program 3-credits; VMI’s psychology department recently received a 2-year, $150,000 research grant from the Virginia Department of Veterans Affairs to study veteran-relate suicide prevention and opioid addiction services. The strategic plan, among other investments, includes a heavy emphasis on recruiting, retaining, and promoting distinguished faculty. Currently, our faculty are No. 6 in Virginia in faculty compensation, and the strategic plan includes initiatives to get us into the top five.
VMI alumni are compelled by a desire to serve. Whether they be known to history—as George C. Marshall, Class of 1901, and Jonathan Daniels ’61 are—or not known to history as an anonymous group of alumni providing stewardship of time and treasure to a special case cadet in need, our willingness to sacrifice for others is unquestioned. In that vein, I want to remind you that if you are interested in giving back to VMI, we have many opportunities for you:
- Volunteers to fill gaps in chapter leadership
- New Cadet Recruiting events happening regularly
- Career networking and mentorship of cadets and alumni
If you are interested, please contact Ed at ejohnson@vmiaa.org.
In the Bonds,
Matthew Hemenez ’90
