Athletics Scholarships

Why VMI Athletics?

NCAA athletic programs are foundational on college campuses across the county. When done well, such programs further the institution’s overall educational mission.

At VMI, the traditional values learned as athletes such as superb physical fitness, discipline, resolute character, sportsmanship, and teamwork, are identical to the mission-based values that are building blocks for the entire Corps of Cadets.

For 150 years, intercollegiate athletics have been an integral part of VMI’s life and culture. Continuing VMI’s proud athletic tradition is one of the principal objectives of annual and endowment giving.

Keydet Club Scholarship Fund

The Keydet Club Scholarship Fund provides grant-in-aid support, helps VMI recruit broadly, inspires access and helps mitigate the cost of attendance. Cadet-athletes excel in all facets of cadet life and compete at the highest level of intercollegiate athletics while earning a VMI degree.

Team-Specific Scholarship Fund

Team-specific scholarship funds directly support VMI’s NCAA cadet-athletes as they develop into leaders on and off their respective fields.

Meet Kate Taylor ’24

For Kate Taylor ’24, the decision to attend VMI is one she has never regretted. Thanks to the scholarships she received through the Keydet Club and the VMI Foundation, Taylor has had the opportunity to experience a plethora of opportunities that only VMI can provide. In addition to being a member of the Keydet swim and dive team, Taylor was a civil engineering major with a minor in modern languages and cultures (Chinese) and worked in Preston Library. She served as the S4 sergeant in charge of supply and logistics, chair of the Ring Figure ball, and as VMI’s first cadet chief of staff during her 1st Class year.

In 2023, Taylor became the recipient of the Keydet Club’s prestigious Three-Legged Stool Award in recognition of her achievements in athletics, academics, and leadership development. As an athlete, Taylor holds multiple team records and swam key legs on the record-breaking 400 freestyle and 200 medley relay at the 2023 America East Championships, as well as two other relays that achieved all-time No. 2 rankings in program history. In academics, she maintained a cumulative dean’s list GPA for her entire cadetship and wore academic stars. Among her many achievements, she was an American Society of Civil Engineers member, Society of Women Engineers president, and a recipient of the John Bowie Gray 1867 Award.

Highlights:

• 2023 Three-Legged Stool Award recipient
• Keydet Swim & Dive team member
• Served as the first-ever cadet chief of staff
• Maintained Dean’s List GPA throughout her cadetship and wore academic stars
• Commissioned Army