Dean of Washington and Lee University’s law school since July 2022, Wilson is a prolific writer and author who also holds the Roy L. Steinheimer Jr. Professorship in Law.
Her experience spans multiple schools, states and awards: She was an associate professor at Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School and a visiting professor at William & Mary’s law school. In 2007, she joined the faculty of the University of Kansas School of Law, where she served as professor of law, associate dean for academic affairs and director of diversity and inclusion. In 2015, she went on to become dean of the University of Tennessee College of Law in Knoxville for five years before returning to teaching.
Wilson practiced law for 13 years in the private and public sectors, including as an assistant U.S. attorney for six years and as assistant Georgia state attorney general for four years. She earned her undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Georgia, where she played on the 1986 Southeastern Conference championship women’s golf team.
U.S. News & World Report ranked Washington and Lee University’s law school 40th in its 2023-24 Best Law Schools list.
A 34-year U.S. Army veteran and 1985 VMI alumnus, Wins became the first Black superintendent to lead “the West Point of the South,” the nation’s oldest state military college, following the resignation of his predecessor in 2020.
Wins joined at a time when VMI, known for its demanding “Rat Line” boot camp, was the subject of a state-ordered investigation that found instances of racism against Black cadets, as well as reports of sexual assaults and harassment of women cadets. Amid demands for reform from VMI alum Gov. Ralph Northam and Democratic state lawmakers, Wins hired VMI’s first chief diversity officer and oversaw the removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson.
The changes resulted in vitriolic criticism of Wins by alums who decried his tenure as a “woke assault” on VMI’s culture and traditions. Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who ran on a platform that included opposition to critical race theory, appointed conservative members to VMI’s board of visitors. Amid the backlash, VMI’s chief diversity officer, Jamica Love, resigned in June, two months after the state’s new chief diversity officer, Martin D. Brown, told an audience of VMI faculty and staff that “DEI is dead.”
A German-inspired restaurant in Richmond canceled a reservation for a conservative political organization’s private event last week, saying in a statement posted online Thursday night that the decision was made to protect their staff, many of whom are women and/or part of the LGBTQ community. The Family Foundation, the organization that had made the reservation, opposes same-sex marriage and abortion, among other positions.
Metzger Bar and Butchery, in Richmond’s Union Hill neighborhood, posted a statement Thursday night on Instagram about the decision to cancel the Family Foundation’s reservation Wednesday. “Metzger Bar and Butchery has always prided itself on being an inclusive environment for people to dine in,” the restaurant said in the statement. “In eight years of service, we have very rarely refused service to anyone who wished to dine with us. Recently we refused service to a group that had booked an event with us after the owners of Metzger found out it was a group of donors to a political organization that seeks to deprive women and LGBTQ+ persons of their basic human rights in Virginia.”
Family Foundation President Victoria Cobb wrote in a blog post Thursday that the foundation’s vice president of operations got a call from Metzger about an hour and a half before the 7 p.m. Wednesday reservation notifying her of the cancellation.
“One of the restaurant’s owners called our team to cancel the event,” Cobb wrote in the post, which linked to Metzger’s Yelp page. “As our VP of operations explained that guests were arriving at their restaurant shortly, she asked for an explanation. Sure enough, an employee looked up our organization, and their waitstaff refused to serve us.”
Victoria Cobb, president of The Family Foundation of Virginia, speaks at a March for Life rally in April 2019. Photo courtesy Family Foundation of Virginia
In an interview Friday with Virginia Business, Cobb said her colleague, Erica Hanko, had reserved the private room at least a week or two earlier for a dessert event for about 15 to 20 people. On Wednesday at about 5:30 p.m., Cobb said, Hanko was on her way to the restaurant to check the room’s seating when she received a call from a Metzger representative who said they had to cancel, without explaining why. “She was honestly thinking, ‘Is this a COVID thing?'” because of the abrupt cancellation, Cobb said.
After Hanko asked the restaurant for the reason of the cancellation, Cobb said that she was told that a member of the waitstaff found out that the reservation was for the Family Foundation “and they had a lot of gay waitstaff,” who were presumably opposed to some of the organization’s political stances, which have included opposition to same-sex marriage and support for gay conversion therapy.
“We have always refused service to anyone for making our staff uncomfortable or unsafe, and this was the driving force behind our decision,” Metzger said in its statement. “Many of our staff are women and/or members of the LGBTQ+ community. All of our staff are people with rights who deserve dignity and a safe work environment. We respect our staff’s established rights as humans and strive to create a work environment where they can do their jobs with dignity, comfort and safety.”
As of Friday, Yelp had disabled the ability for people to post comments on Metzger Bar and Butchery’s page after it received numerous negative reviews related to the incident, quickly followed by several positive reviewers attempting to counteract the one-star reviews.
“This business recently received increased public attention, which often means people come to this page to post their views on the news,” Yelp’s notice read. “While we don’t take a stand one way or the other when it comes to this incident, we’ve temporarily disabled the posting of content to this page as we work to investigate whether the content you see here reflects actual consumer experiences rather than the recent events.”
When asked about the negative Yelp reviews of the business, which included one poster’s vow to “never set foot in a restaurant that bows to progressive employees who refuse to serve Christians” and another who wrote, “I have learned that only certain types of people are welcome at Metzger’s,” Cobb said, “I hope that their tone and approach is honorable. Even food service has now been polarized. It’s just disappointing that we can’t have a meal together.”
Cobb added that a website design company declined to design her foundation’s website for political reasons, and the former provider of its customer relationship management software, EveryAction, which became part of new parent company Bonterra in March, canceled the foundation’s contract, forcing the foundation to move its databases to a different system. “While many who hold the same beliefs may not experience this directly yet, we recognize we are on the tip of the spear,” Cobb wrote in her blog post.
Metzger co-owner and former “Top Chef” competitor Brittanny Anderson did not respond to messages Friday seeking further comment, but the restaurant’s Instagram account posted a photo Friday of a drink named “Cracks in the Foundation,” along with the announcement that it would donate all proceeds of the cocktail’s sales Friday to LGBTQ advocacy group Equality Virginia. “We are so grateful to our many guests and neighbors for their support the past few days!” the post read.
Cobb said Friday that Hanko was able to find another restaurant to seat her guests, all of whom were from the Richmond area. She declined to name that restaurant to shelter it from criticism, but said that it “happily accommodated us. We live in a free market, [so] we took our business elsewhere.”
Civil rights pioneer weighs in
In her blog post, Cobb mentioned an earlier instance in which a group was refused service — the 1960 Thalhimers department store lunch counter sit-in by 34 Black Virginia Union University students protesting racial segregation in Jim Crow-era Richmond. Cobb argued in her blog post that “people who likely consider themselves ‘progressives’” — meaning Metzger’s owners — are attempting to “recreate an environment from the 1950s and early ’60s, when people were denied food service due to their race. … Welcome to the double standard of the left.”
The 1960 Thalhimers lunch counter sit-in protesters, known as the Richmond 34, were arrested for trespassing and were recognized last year by the Virginia General Assembly for their enduring impact as part of the 20th-century Southern civil rights movement.
Elizabeth Johnson Rice, now an 82-year-old retired teacher living in Chesterfield County, was a member of the Richmond 34. She said the situation surrounding the Family Foundation and Metzger is somewhat different than the sit-in, one of numerous nonviolent protests conducted in the 1950s and ’60s to oppose racial discrimination against Black people. Those protests often led to arrests, violence against protesters and sometimes deaths.
On Feb. 22, 1960, Rice and her fellow protesters were arrested and charged with trespassing, taken to jail and then released on bail. In March 1960, they were all convicted of trespassing and fined $20 each, but the students all appealed the decision to the Virginia Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of the store owners’ right to forgo service. Ultimately, in 1963, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered a repeal of the 34 students’ convictions in a victory for the civil rights movement.
“We were going for equal justice for all,” Rice said Friday. “We were trespassing because we didn’t get service. [As Black people], if we wanted to eat anything [from Thalhimers’ lunch counter], we had to go into the alley and knock on the little door. That was really Jim Crow.”
Rice said that she still believes in equal rights for everyone today, including the right to marry someone of the same sex, but at the same time, she feels the Family Foundation party was “not being treated fairly” by Metzger Bar and Butchery. “Their reservation should be honored in 2022.”
Dining and culture wars
Restaurants have provided an occasional backdrop to the culture wars playing out in recent years, as some Trump-era White House officials were refused service or targeted by protesters while dining out. In the aftermath of such incidents, social media can amplify the political polarization and lead to prolonged problems for business owners and staff members.
But that incident — which eventually was recounted by President Donald Trump’s Twitter account and numerous national news outlets — led to months of hate mail and doxxing of the Red Hen’s owner, Stephanie Wilkinson. The restaurant’s Yelp reviews reflected the political divide.
In a phone interview Friday, Wilkinson said that although she wasn’t familiar with the particulars of the Metzger situation, “my feeling about the role of privately owned businesses following their moral conscience has not changed,” and she did not regret her decision to refuse service to Sanders, who was elected Arkansas’ first woman governor in November.
She said that her decision was based not specifically on Sanders’ political views; “it was about actions we found reprehensible.” (At the time, Wilkinson had cited Sanders’ support for Trump positions such as separating migrant children from their parents, as well as opposition to transgender people serving in the military.) Similarly, if Metzger’s owners and staff found the Family Foundation’s actions “morally repugnant,” Wilkinson said, “I think I agree with them” in their refusal to serve the organization at the restaurant.
But Wilkinson also posited a hypothetical scenario: If a different business’s owners objected to a political group or individual’s stance supporting abortion access and refused them service on that basis, she couldn’t object on moral grounds, even though Wilkinson personally supports the right to abortion.
In 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court partially agreed with a bakery owner’s assertion that he could refuse a client service based on his religious convictions.
In 2012, the owner of a Colorado bakery refused to make a cake for the marriage of a gay couple based on his Christian beliefs. The couple filed a complaint to the state’s civil rights commission, which led to a lawsuit that reached the U.S. Supreme Court in 2019. The high court ruled 7-2 that the commission did not employ religious neutrality, violating baker Jack Phillips’ right to free exercise, although the court did not rule on broader issues like anti-discrimination laws, free exercise of religion and freedom of speech. Phillips is back in court now, having refused to bake a cake for a transgender woman’s transition celebration.
However, a case heard Monday by the Supreme Court — in which a Colorado graphic artist objects to designing websites for gay couples’ weddings on religious grounds — could have an impact. Critics say a ruling in the artist’s favor could lead to businesses discriminating against people based on race, religion or other factors.
“The hospitality industry is very tricky,” added Wilkinson, who opened The Red Hen in 2008 and has lived in Lexington for nearly 30 years. For customers, she said, a restaurant “feels like it ought to be part of a refuge. When these things happen, people have a visceral feeling of rejection. It feels like being booted out of your relative’s house.” And for employees, “it’s not just their job. There’s often this sense that [it’s] a family.”
The Red Hen continues to feel an impact from the Sanders incident, she said, with staff still fielding occasional “nasty messages” and the restaurant requiring a specialized reservation system that helps prevent nuisance reservations meant to keep real diners away. But also, Wilkinson says, “we continue to have people travel insane distances” to dine at the restaurant, and no longer does she “live and die by yesterday’s Yelp reviews and Google reviews. I’m liberated from having to look at that.”
A long-awaited state report on an alleged culture of racism at Virginia Military Institute was released Tuesday afternoon, concluding that “VMI has … traditionally been run by white men, for white men,” although the state-funded military institution in Lexington has made “incremental steps towards a more diverse, inclusive VMI.”
In a statement Tuesday, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, a 1981 VMI alumnus, said, “The investigation found that institutional racism and sexism are present, tolerated and too often left unaddressed. While VMI has taken incremental steps forward since this review began, much more is needed. The question is whether VMI is willing to acknowledge this reality. The commonwealth will study this report carefully and then take appropriate action. VMI would be wise to do so as well. VMI is an agency of state government, and we will hold it accountable.”
The Washington, D.C.-based law firm Barnes & Thornburg LLP conducted the state-funded equity investigation into VMI beginning in January, interviewing cadets, alumni, faculty and staff. The firm’s final equity audit report describes the culture at VMI as “one of silence, fear and intimidation,” based on statements by current cadets, alumni and faculty — including during the investigation. “Interviewees reported that, in some sexual assault cases, members of the VMI administration have actively dissuaded victims from making reports. Interview respondents also explained that they perceived or experienced that VMI leadership puts a high priority on suppressing information and avoiding difficult situations, and less of a priority on addressing underlying problems. The [investigative team] had the same experience. VMI has taken affirmative steps to prevent negative information from making it into this report.”
VMI posted a new page Tuesday on its website titled “VMI Promise” that acknowledges the accusations and adds that the school is “a microcosm of society and not immune to the challenges of racism of sexual misconduct which occur on college campuses across the nation.” The statement notes, though, that “There are some who have made allegations that institutional racism is prevalent at VMI, but the facts simply do not support that position. Like many college campuses, we too have had incidences where racial slurs and racist acts have been perpetrated. That is not an experience that any of our cadets should have to endure, and we have taken action to address that concern. According to a 2017 report from the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights, VMI has implemented systems and training programs to properly address those issues.”
The institute also promotes its initiatives to “strengthen diversity, equity and inclusion efforts” on the page, including the hiring of its first chief diversity officer in late May. However, the investigative team found that VMI lags significantly behind other military colleges in DEI programs and that it “does not have a DEI plan, just a statement of diversity.”
In March, the firm released an interim report in which alumni and current cadets said they heard racial slurs “on a regular basis” at the school. A Black alumnus said he was called the n-word “many times” between 2018 and 2021, and in the mid-1990s, an Asian graduate said he “routinely” was called “sand n-word” by an upperclassman.
The final report also notes that sexual assault, especially against female cadets, is “prevalent,” yet has been “inadequately addressed by the Institute.” Fourteen percent of current female cadets reported being sexually assaulted at VMI, while 63% said that a fellow cadet — both men and women — had told them they had been a victim of sexual assault during their time at the institute. The report says that 27% of current female cadets reported being sexually harassed at VMI, and female faculty members and staff also reported sexual harassment at the institute.
A current female cadet told investigators that a staff member told one of her female friends, “If you cannot handle sexual assaults, you should not be at VMI,” the report says.
Despite “extensive” sexual assault training, “female cadets report that male cadets treat it as a joke and an opportunity for misogynistic humor, without consequence.” Many women said they reported their assaults but that they went “unaddressed” by VMI administration, and that at times administrators “intimidated female cadets to reconsider assault reports.”
The report determines that “issues of gender inequity and sexual assault may not be unique to VMI. But the character, quantity and severity of the issues described … do not exist everywhere. These issues are worse at VMI and they need to be addressed immediately.”
VMI’s statement on its website, though, said, “It cannot be overstated — sexual harassment or sexual assault is not and will never be tolerated at this institution. Perhaps what pains us most is hearing some cadets and alumni say that they were apprehensive to bring issues forward out of fear of reprisal. No cadet should ever feel the administration, faculty, or staff at VMI are not here for them. Addressing these issues is of paramount importance.”
In its recommendations, the five-person investigation team writes in the report that VMI should be required to submit regular written reports to the governor, the General Assembly and other stakeholders, but it stops short of recommending that “any of VMI’s core policies, practices and traditions, including the Honor Code and Rat Line, be abolished.” The report also recommends “that VMI leadership examine how it can create an environment that does not disadvantage or impose disparate effects on minorities.”
In the introductory summary of the report, the investigative team wrote that the school “has sustained systems that disadvantage minority and female cadets and faculty, and has left VMI trailing behind its peer institutions. If VMI refuses to think critically about its past and present, and to confront how racial and ethnic minorities and women experience VMI, it will remain a school for white men.” Although the installation of retired U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Cedric T. Wins — VMI’s first Black superintendent — as interim superintendent in November has led to some positive change, the report says that “many in the VMI community, including senior leaders, perceive no issues or reasons to change.”
Specifically, the report says that 42% of current Black cadets responded that they are discriminated against “a lot” at VMI, and half say they “strongly or somewhat agree that there is a culture of racial intolerance at VMI,” while the number of white cadets who agree with these statements are much lower.
“Racial slurs and jokes are not uncommon on post,” the report adds, and VMI’s response is “insufficient,” with administrators sometimes excusing such offenses, although the school provides “education and training” to cadets who say racially or ethnically offensive statements.
The report also says that a common opinion among white participants is “that there is not a race problem, but a problem with a divide between athletes and nonathletes,” with nonathlete cadets feeling that NCAA athletes receive preferential treatment at the school. As for allegations that Honor Court and Honor Code cases are conducted unfairly, the report says that they are fair “when examined in isolation” although of 91 cases involving convictions over the past 10 years, 41% of dismissed cadets were nonwhite, despite making up only 23% of the corps.
“Elimination of the fundamental elements of the Honor Code or Honor Court is not recommended,” the report says, but the institute “should include a root cause analysis of these statistics, revisions to training and procedures to implement more equitable processes.”
The report also says VMI has an “outdated, idealized reverence for the Civil War and the Confederacy,” including traditions related to the era “given disproportionate attention.”
VMI’s Board of Visitors has scheduled a special meeting Wednesday afternoon that the school described as primarily a closed meeting “to receive consultation regarding specific legal matters … regarding to the ongoing equity audit of VMI.”
The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) released the 150-page report Tuesday. “SCHEV will not reach any conclusions or make any recommendations on the … study until after we have had ample time to review it,” SCHEV Director Peter Blake said in a statement. “We look forward to engaging VMI as well as the broader higher education community to consider issues raised by the report and recommendations.”
According to the school’s VMI Promise webpage, there will be a cadet-led Cultural Awareness Training program that is in development, with a goal of enhancing cadets’ “understanding of cultural differences amongst members of the Corps and to promote civility and respect.”
Last year, The Roanoke Times and The Washington Post reported recent cadets’ allegations of racist behavior and words by fellow students and faculty, including a Black student who said he was threatened with lynching by another cadet in 2018. The public airing of cadets’ complaints led to the October resignation of VMI Superintendent J.H. Binford Peay III, a retired U.S. Army general who served as the school’s leader for 17 years, and the removal of the school’s Stonewall Jackson statue, which honored the former Confederate general and VMI educator. Until recent years, cadets were required to salute the monument as they passed.
In May, VMI hired Jamica N. Love as chief diversity officer. She will report to Wins beginning July 9.
Retired U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Cedric T. Wins was named Virginia Military Institute’s new superintendent by the VMI Board of Visitors on Thursday. Wins, who has served as interim superintendent at VMI since November 2020, is a 1985 graduate of the state-supported military college in Lexington.
“Maj. Gen. Wins has distinguished himself as a leader whose dedication to the institute’s mission and to the corps of cadets has endeared him to many during his brief time as interim superintendent,” said John William Boland, president of the VMI Board of Visitors, in a statement. “There’s no question that Maj. Gen. Wins is the right person to preserve and advance VMI’s unique system of education moving forward.”
Wins’ appointment to the post comes after Gov. Ralph Northam announced an independent investigation into allegations of racism at VMI last October, following exposés in The Washington Post and The Roanoke Times. VMI’s then-superintendent, retired U.S. Army Gen. J.H. Binford Peay III, resigned following the announced state probe. He had served in the position for 17 years.
According to a news release, Wins spent much of his first three months as interim superintendent assessing VMI’s culture, policies and procedures.
Wins previously held many leadership and staff assignments during his 34-year career in the Army, including in the Army’s Headquarters Department and the Joint Staff at the Pentagon. His awards include the Distinguished Service Medal with One Oak Leaf Cluster, the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with One Oak Leaf Cluster, and the Bronze Star Medal. His final command was as the first commanding general of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command.
He holds two master’s degrees, one in management from the Florida Institute of Technology, and one in national security and strategic studies from the National War College.
“If someone had told me a year ago that today I’d be the superintendent of my alma mater, I would have told them they were crazy,” Wins said in a statement. “However, the interactions that I’ve had over the past six months with VMI’s outstanding cadets and dedicated faculty have been some of the most rewarding interactions of my career. The fact of the matter is I believe in the honor, integrity, civility and sacrifice that we instill in our cadets. I’m excited to once again be a part of that and am looking forward to leading this next chapter of the institute’s history.”
Founded in 1839, VMI has been called “The West Point of the South,” and is the oldest state-supported military college in the country. During the Civil War, the Confederacy called on cadets to take part in military engagements, including the Battle of New Market, in which 247 members of the VMI Corps of Cadets fought.
Famous VMI alumni include naval officer and explorer Rear Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr., General of the Army George Marshall Jr., and Lt. Gen. Lewis Burwell “Chesty” Puller, the most decorated Marine in American history.
VMI was the last U.S. military college to admit women after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 7-1 decision in June 1996 that it was unconstitutional for a school supported by public funds to exclude women.
In an interim report, investigators looking into reported racist incidents at Virginia Military Institute say some alumni and current cadets have reported hearing racial slurs “on a regular basis” at the state-funded military college in Lexington.
The Washington, D.C.-based law firm Barnes & Thornburg LLP, which submitted the report Monday to Peter A. Blake, director of the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia, continues its audit of VMI, which it started Jan. 7, interviewing cadets, alumni, faculty and staff.
The report details several uses of racial slurs, including an account from one Black alumnus who reported being called the n-word “many times” between 2018 and 2021, and a white graduate who attended the school in the late 1990s saying that racial slurs were “common” and “absolutely a part of life in the barracks.” An Asian graduate who attended the school in the mid-1990s said he was “routinely” called “sand n-word” by an upperclassman. Also, according to internal reports at VMI provided to the investigators, there were 13 substantiated allegations of use of racial slurs between 2015 and 2021.
Gov. Ralph Northam, a 1981 VMI alumnus, announced in October that the state would launch a third-party investigation of the Lexington military college’s culture after The Washington Post published a story about a Black student who said he had been threatened with lynching by another student in 2018, among other incidents. The state allocated $1 million for the VMI equity audit, which was set to begin in mid-December but was delayed until after the holidays.
In a progress report issued last month, Barnes & Thornburg complained that the state’s postponement of signing the $1 million contract delayed its work, and also said that VMI insisted its legal counsel participate in all interviews conducted by the auditors. In the report issued Monday, the investigation team says it has more interaction with alumni than current cadets, who have been “the most reluctant to speak with the team thus far.”
Noting that the results in the 100-page report are “only preliminary,” the audit team says that tension between races and genders appears to be related to hostility among cadets and NCAA athletes at VMI, whom many cadets see as having an easier time because they miss some military training due to athletics practices. “Because minority cadets make up a much higher percentage of the athletic teams than they do of the corps of cadets, the tension between athletes and cadets is intertwined with diversity issues at VMI,” the report says. Also, some people interviewed have said that discrimination against female cadets “may be more concerning than conditions for racial minorities.”
VMI enrolled its first female cadets in 1997 after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled it could not remain an all-male, public institution. VMI was the last public college in Virginia to integrate, first admitting Black cadets in 1968. Following reports in The Washington Post and The Roanoke Times last year, VMI’s superintendent, retired Gen. J.H. Binford Peay III, resigned from the post. His interim replacement, retired U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Cedric T. Wins, a 1985 alumnus, has participated in extensive conversations with state officials and the VMI Board of Visitors, which voted to remove the university’s statue of Confederate Gen. Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson, who taught at the institute, in December.
So far, the investigation team has interviewed 46 alumni, most of whom graduated during the past 30 years, including nine Black alumni and two of mixed races, according to the report. The team also have made 71 requests to VMI for documents, some of which were delayed as the university refused to produce them due to privacy concerns. Other documents still have not been handed over, the report states. “For over a month, the team has worked with VMI to reassure it that the necessary protocols had been put in place to ensure that VMI was not inadvertently violating any federal or state laws, but the team is still missing large batches of documents that are essential to its equity audit and investigation.”
Along with the complaints voiced by some interviewees, there also is a lot of pride and loyalty among alumni, the report says. “Even those alumni who criticized certain elements of the VMI experience often expressed their love of and appreciation for VMI and its traditions.”
As an independent investigation into allegations of racism at Virginia Military Institute moves forward, the state-supported military college announced a new interim superintendent on Friday.
Following a vote by the VMI Board of Visitors’ Executive Committee, retired U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Cedric T. Wins will serve as interim superintendent at the school. A 1985 VMI graduate, Wins served for 34 years in the Army. Wins will head the college until a permanent superintendent can be chosen.
During his 34-year career in the Army, Wins held many leadership and staff assignments, including in the Headquarters Department of the Army and the Joint Staff at the Pentagon. His awards include the Distinguished Service Medal with One Oak Leaf Cluster, the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit with One Oak Leaf Cluster, and the Bronze Star Medal. His final command was as the first commanding general of the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command.
He holds two master’s degrees, one in management from the Florida Institute of Technology, and one in national security and strategic studies from the National War College.
The selection of Wins comes in the aftermath of exposés in The Roanoke Times and The Washington Post that allege an atmosphere of racism at VMI. On Oct. 19, Gov. Ralph Northam — himself a VMI graduate — and other top state legislators announced that they were “directing an independent, third-party review of VMI culture, policies, practices and equity in disciplinary procedures.” A “nonpartisan, national organization” will conduct the review and report findings before the end of 2020, to allow for “any necessary legislative action” by the General Assembly during its 2021 session, which begins in January.
In a letter dated Oct. 26, VMI superintendent, retired U.S. Army Gen. J.H. Binford Peay III, announced his resignation, conveying that state officials “had lost confidence in my leadership” and “therefore desired my resignation.” Virginia lawmakers have since approved $1 million for an independent investigation at VMI.
The VMI Board of Visitors has appointed a search committee and will work with an executive search firm to identify superintendent candidates over the next several months. A new, permanent superintendent is expected to be in place during the summer of 2021.
“The VMI Board of Visitors is pleased that Maj. Gen. Wins has agreed to lead the institute during this critical time of transition,” says John William Boland, president of the VMI Board of Visitors. “Gen. Peay’s 17 years of service to the institute were transformative, and I am confident that Maj. Gen. Wins’ experience and values will provide steady and principled leadership as we continue to move the institute forward.”
As a cadet at VMI, Wins was a standout basketball player who finished his basketball career as one of the top five scorers in school history. Over his four years at VMI, he helped lead the team from last place in the Southern Conference to the Southern Conference finals during his first-class year. In 1985, he graduated with a bachelor of arts in economics and was commissioned into the Army as a field artillery officer.
“I am excited to return to VMI, a place that had an extraordinary impact on me as a leader and person,” says Wins. “Now more than ever, the lessons and values of VMI are needed in the world, and I am humbled to be a part of making that happen. I most look forward to leading the cadets and ensuring we have a safe and successful conclusion to the academic year, hit the ground running during the spring sports season, and continue fulfilling our vital mission of producing educated and honorable men and women.”
Founded in 1839, VMI has been called “The West Point of the South,” and is the oldest state-supported military college in the country. Stonewall Jackson joined VMI’s faculty in 1851 as a professor of natural and experimental philosophy, a precursor to natural science. During the Civil War, the Confederacy called on cadets to take part in military engagements, including the Battle of New Market, where 247 members of the VMI Corps of Cadets fought.
Famous VMI alumni include naval officer and explorer Rear Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr., General of the Army George Marshall Jr., and Lt. Gen. Lewis Burwell “Chesty” Puller, the most decorated Marine in American history.
VMI was the last U.S. military college to admit women after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 7-1 decision in June 1996 that it was unconstitutional for a school supported by public funds to exclude women.
Although Virginia’s overall COVID-19 infection rate is much lower than other states that are currently experiencing spikes, the number of new cases in Southwest Virginia has been steadily increasing over the past two weeks, Gov. Ralph Northam said Wednesday in a COVID-19 update.
According to health directors in the region, the percent of positive cases is around 8% and has reached 9% in some localities, about twice the current percentage in Virginia’s Eastern and Northern regions, which saw spikes earlier in the pandemic. Northam said family gatherings are at fault for much of the spread in the Southwest region. He advised residents to step up their precautions and to wear face masks.
Ballad Health, which runs hospitals and health care facilities in Southwest Virginia and eastern Tennessee, has seen an uptick in cases from Tennessee. That impacts the care of Virginians, Northam noted. He said that a shipment of 26,000 rapid antigen tests funded with assistance from the Rockefeller Foundation have been received in Virginia, and will be sent soon to nursing homes and long-term care facilities. A second order of more than 200,000 tests has been ordered, he said.
“I know that many people are tired of COVID restrictions,” the governor said. “Most people are doing the right thing, and they are tired of other folks disregarding the rules and disregarding the health of other people.”
Northam also announced an expansion of the Rebuild VA program. Launched in August with $70 million in federal CARES Act funds, Rebuild VA assists small businesses and nonprofits that did not receive federal relief funding. With the expansion, the state will allocate $30 million more in federal funds and allow applicants to receive up to $100,000 each, a significant increase from the previous $10,000 cap. The field of eligible businesses and nonprofits also will expand to include camps and some other businesses, Northam said.
Regarding Virginia Military Institute, which has come under scrutiny for what some Black students and alumni characterized as an atmosphere of “relentless racism at the nation’s oldest state-supported military college,” according to a recent Washington Post story, the governor reiterated the need for a third-party investigation.
Current and former Black VMI cadets said that they were harassed and subjected to racist epithets and threats of violence, which have made headlines in recent weeks in the Post and The Roanoke Times. After the Post’s Oct. 17 expose, the governor, a 1981 VMI alumnus, and other top Virginia Democratic elected officials called for a third-party review of the school’s culture. VMI Superintendent J.H. Binford Peay announced his resignation Monday.
“I love VMI. It means the world to me,” Northam said of the state-funded military institute. However, he added, “These allegations are very troubling,” and reiterated his earlier statements about the need for a full, independent investigation into the school. Northam said he expects full cooperation from VMI’s Board of Visitors, some of whom he appointed as governor.
In other news, the state’s Department of Elections has received 2 million early ballots, a record-breaking number, Northam said. He cautioned that ballot counting will continue past Election Day, as Virginia will count all absentee ballots postmarked Nov. 3, as long as they arrive by Nov. 6. The election results will be certified Nov. 15.
Following Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s announcement of a probe into allegations of racism at Virginia Military Institute, the school’s superintendent, retired U.S. Army Gen. J.H. Binford Peay III, has resigned.
In a letter dated Oct. 26, Peay said that the probe announced by Gov. Ralph Northam and other top state legislators into allegations of racism at VMI in Lexington conveyed that they “had lost confidence in my leadership” and “therefore desired my resignation.” The letter is addressed to John Boland, president of the VMI board of visitors. Peay, who is white, is a 1962 VMI graduate who has served as superintendent since 2003.
Boland also issued a statement reading that the board “accepted [Peay’s resignation] with deep regret,” and that the board of visitors would “immediately turn its attention to the search for our new superintendent.” VMI spokesperson Bill Wyatt did not immediately respond to questions from Virginia Business about the process and timeline for selecting a new superintendent.
An Oct. 17 Washington Post exposé alleged that there is an atmosphere of “relentless racism at the nation’s oldest state-supported military college.” Two days later, Northam and other top state legislators announced that they were “directing an independent, third-party review of VMI culture, policies, practices and equity in disciplinary procedures.” A “nonpartisan, national organization” will conduct the review and report findings before the end of 2020, to allow for “any necessary legislative action” by the General Assembly during its 2021 session, which begins in January.
In The Washington Post story, a Black freshman recounted being told by a white sophomore that he’d be lynched and his corpse would be used “as a punching bag” in 2018 during Hell Week, a punishing 10-day rite of passage that introduces students to the military discipline, drill and physical fitness expectations required of them. Another episode the Post mentioned was a 2017 photo depicting the school’s commandant of cadets dressed in a Halloween costume as President Donald Trump’s border wall with the words “No Cholos” – a slur against Mexicans.
“This culture is unacceptable for any Virginia institution in the 21st century, especially one funded by taxpayers. Virginians expect all universities — and particularly public universities established by the General Assembly — to be welcoming and inclusive, and to eschew outdated traditions that glamorize a history rooted in rebellion against the United States,” states the letter issued by state legislators, among them Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax; Attorney General Mark Herring; Speaker of the House Eileen Filler-Corn; Senate Majority Leader Richard Saslaw; House Majority Leader Charniele Herring; state Sen. and Senate President Louise Lucas; state Sen. Mamie Locke (head of the Senate Democratic Caucus); Del. Lamont Bagby (chair, Legislative Black Caucus); House Appropriations Committee Chair Del. Luke Torian; and Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee Chair Sen. Janet Howell.
“Black cadets at VMI have long faced repeated instances of racism on campus, including horrifying new revelations of threats about lynching, vicious attacks on social media, and even a professor who spoke fondly of her family’s history in the Ku Klux Klan — to say nothing of inconsistent application of the Institute’s Honor Code,” the letter also reads. “In addition, VMI cadets continue to be educated in a physical environment that honors the Confederacy and celebrates an inaccurate and dangerous ‘Lost Cause’ version of Virginia’s history. It is long past time to consign these relics to the dustbin of history.”
Northam, a VMI graduate, has focused on racial equity issues since a photo surfaced from his 1984 Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook page showing a person in blackface next to a person in a Klan robe. After initially admitting he was in the picture, Northam later recanted, but said he had once dressed as Michael Jackson and applied shoe polish to his face for a dance contest. Herring also admitted to wearing blackface to a party in his past; Fairfax has contended with allegations of sexual assault. In September, Fairfax announced that he was running for governor in 2021. Herring is running for reelection as attorney general. All three are Democrats.
In response to the Northam letter, Boland issued a letter of his own on Oct. 20, stating that he welcomed “an objective, independent review of VMI’s culture and the Institute’s handling of allegations of racism and/or discrimination.”
The letter states that administrators have already begun a review of nearly 30 operational elements and that the “way forward was thoroughly reviewed and discussed at the September 2020 Board of Visitors meeting and was endorsed as a path toward ensuring an Institute free from racism and discrimination.” It also states that “systemic racism doesn’t exist here and a fair and independent review will find that to be true.”
“The incidents detailed in The Washington Post article, several of which are many years old, had more to do with an individual’s lapse of judgment than they do with the culture of the institute,” the Boland letter reads. “Each one, as is the case with any allegation of racism or discrimination, was investigated thoroughly and appropriate action was meted out in a timely fashion. These incidents were perpetrated by few individuals and were in no way condoned by the institute.”
In a tweet on Oct. 24, former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder called on Northam “to immediately remove and replace the leadership [at VMI],” including the board of visitors, or resign from office. Wilder was the nation’s first elected African American governor and the first Black governor in America since Reconstruction.
After the announcement of Peay’s resignation, Wilder tweeted, “It appears that my call has been met with the superintendent’s resignation. That is not enough, the culture at VMI needs to be changed. This should have been brought about by the Board of Visitors and still needs … to be done.”
It appears that my call has been met with the Superintendent’s resignation. That is not enough, the culture at VMI needs to be changed. This should have been brought about by the Board of Visitors and still needs so to be done. https://t.co/IwuxK7d566
Founded in 1839, VMI has been called “The West Point of the South,” and is the oldest state-supported military college in the country. Stonewall Jackson joined VMI’s faculty in 1851 as a professor of natural and experimental philosophy, a precursor to natural science. During the Civil War, the Confederacy called on cadets to take part in military engagements, including the Battle of New Market, where 247 members of the VMI Corps of Cadets fought.
Famous VMI alumni include naval officer and explorer Rear Admiral Richard Evelyn Byrd Jr., General of the Army George Marshall Jr., and Lt. Gen. Lewis Burwell “Chesty” Puller, the most decorated Marine in American history.
VMI was the last U.S. military college to admit women after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 7-1 decision in June 1996 that it was unconstitutional for a school supported by public funds to exclude women.
Roanoke-based Carilion Clinic announced Friday it has completed the purchase of Lexington’s Stonewall Jackson Hospital from the SJH Community Health Foundation. This was the final 20% — valued at $10.9 million — left for Carilion after its initial 2005 investment.
With the purchase comes a new name, Carilion Rockbridge Community Hospital.
The health care system originally acquired 80% ownership of the hospital 15 years ago and took over its management in 2006. Carilion has invested more than $25 million in operations, capital improvements and clinical services, which will increase to more than $36 million after buying the final 20% stake.
“Today’s announcement marks the beginning of the next chapter in the 15-year partnership between Carilion and the SJH Community Health Foundation,” Dr. Richard Teaff, chair of the hospital’s board of directors, said in a statement. “This arrangement will allow Carilion to simplify management of the hospital, and it will enable the foundation to focus significant resources on our neighbors’ health care needs.”
“The heart of a community is, in many ways, its hospital — especially in close-knit communities like Lexington, Rockbridge County and Buena Vista,” Carilion President and CEO Nancy Howell Agee said in a statement. “We’re grateful for the community’s support these last 15 years, and we want the community to know that we support them too.”
When asked whether the name change was influenced by a recent influx of renaming of buildings named after Confederate officers and removal of monuments, Carilion spokesperson Christopher “Chris” R. Turnbull said it was coincidental.
“Regardless of the societal debate going on right now, we would have been announcing this investment in the community and an updated name,” Turnbull said. “This is the culmination of a two-year process between Carilion and the SJH Community Health Foundation. We’re making this change now because we own 100% of the hospital, and with that, it should align with the naming convention we use for all other Carilion facilities, emphasizing the region the facility serves.
“This process involved significant due diligence and a valuation exercise — just like any other business transaction would. And it has resulted in a significant investment in the health of this community.”
The SJH Community Health Foundation also plans to donate $1 million to renovate operating rooms at the hospital.
“Compassionate care for our patients has been our top priority since we arrived,” Greg Madsen, the hospital’s vice president and administrator, said in a statement. “We’re renewing our commitment to being here — through purchasing the remaining share of the hospital, investing further in our employees, technology and services, and writing the next chapter in the hospital’s legacy of service to this region.”
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
Cookie
Duration
Description
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional
11 months
The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy
11 months
The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
viewed_cookie_policy
11 months
The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Sign In
Free Newsletter
