The College Orientation Workshop, Inc. (COW) program returned to Virginia Military Institute this summer, marking its 38th year of transforming the lives of promising, male, minority and at-risk high school students.

Retired U.S. Air Force Col. Lawrence Havird ’90 has been named commandant for Virginia Military Institute, assuming the position Aug. 5 following Col. Adrian T. Bogart III ’81, who retired June 30 after three years.

The VMI Community Theatre presents, “The Foreigner,” Friday, July 26 and Saturday, July 27 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, July 28 at 2:00 p.m. in Gillis Theater.  

The Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) unit at Virginia Military Institute celebrated its 50th anniversary July 1 in Kilbourne Hall. The unit has commissioned 2,032 Navy ensigns and Marine second lieutenants — producing the largest class this past May with 59 officers.

Working alongside the VMI admissions and financial aid offices, Aidan Carman ’27, an applied mathematics major, sought to determine what factors ultimately decide the likelihood a cadet will graduate, the likelihood a cadet will graduate in a particular major, the retention rate of cadets, and more.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin has appointed Quintin Elliott ’85, Clifford Foster ’93, William R. Janis ’84, and reappointed Kate Comerford Todd to four-year terms on the VMI Board of Visitors.

Impactful, challenging, and exposure to atrocities are not ordinary descriptives for a trip to Europe for college students, but cadets at Virginia Military Institute don’t do ordinary. Recently, 18 commissioning cadets and two staff members traveled to Poland for seven days.

For many departments at VMI, summer is a time to slow down and rejuvenate in preparation for another busy school year. However, the Department of Facilities Management, also known as Physical Plant or P2, does not slow down. In many ways, their work picks up.

The chaplain’s office at Virginia Military Institute recently welcomed a new staff member in the form of a warm, furry, and faithful facility dog named CAVU. CAVU’s occupational specialty is to assist the Institute chaplain in bringing morale, welfare, and care to cadets.

Jack Conley ’25, a history major is researching the hand-written letter, along with other ancient tablets, for his Summer Undergraduate Research Institute (SURI) project titled, “The Vindolanda Tablets: Understanding the Roman Frontier in Northern Britain.”