March Update from
Maj. Gen. Cedric Wins ’85

The Alumni Agencies held a town hall meeting March 2, 2021. The main focus was an Institute update from Maj. Gen. Cedric Wins ’85, interim superintendent. After a brief introduction from Thom Brashears ’95, Alumni Association chief operating officer, the audience heard from Wins.  

Wins talked about his own observations since returning to post. When he accepted the position, he began meeting with different groups at VMI—cadets, staff, and faculty—and different sub-groups, like cadet leadership, cadet-athletes, and members of the Promaji Club. From this, Wins developed five outcomes. These are important for VMI to move forward, he stated. 

He also provided updates about COVID-19; the review of our diversity, equity, and inclusion practices; job prospects for graduating cadets; 2021 commissioning numbers; state funding; and athletics.  

“I’m going to continue to reiterate and reinforce what VMI is for. And certainly VMI is a very, very unique education and unique experience, centered around certain pillars, principally focused on the cornerstone of honor and integrity,” Wins said toward the end of his update. “But we’ve also got to be about having honorable cadets—those cadets that operate around civility, honor, integrity—treating one with dignity and respect or as you would like to be treated against those acts of racism and sexism and homophobia.

“These young men and women that we are developing are going out into a society, and it’s going to be a diverse society. It’s going to be a society where those that they lead, and those that they are led by won’t often always look like them, won’t often always be of the same sex as them. And so it’s important that we give them the character traits and the leadership experience so that they can go out and be a success in the world.”