Youngkin peppers university boards with GOP power players
With Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s appointees slated to hold majorities on the state’s university boards beginning July 1, the governor announced dozens of last-minute university board appointments Friday afternoon, shortly before the members’ four-year terms take effect Monday. Although many of the new appointees are the usual mix of Virginia business leaders and former state legislato[...]
Education 2023: MAJ. GEN. CEDRIC T. WINS (U.S. ARMY, RET.)
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 […]
OBITUARY: Remembering P. Wesley Foster Jr.
P. Wesley Foster Jr., who co-founded Chantilly-based Long & Foster Real Estate Cos., building it into one of the nation’s largest real estate brokerages, died March 17 at his Alexandria home. Foster and partner Henry Long started Long & Foster in 1968 in Fairfax. The pair met when Long toured a home Foster was showing […]
Richard Cullen to become Youngkin’s counselor
Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin has selected former Virginia Attorney General Richard Cullen as counselor to the governor. A senior partner and former chairman of McGuireWoods, Cullen will leave Virginia’s largest firm on Jan. 14, the day before Youngkin is sworn in. Cullen joined McGuireWoods in 1977. From 1991 to 1994, he served as U.S. attorney for […]
Education
MAKOLA M. ABDULLAH PRESIDENT, VIRGINIA STATE UNIVERSITY, ETTRICK While many college presidents enjoy basketball, few have Abdullah’s moves. In March, a video of him tying up an opponent went viral, receiving millions of views and appearing on ESPN’s “SportsCenter.” Abdullah has overseen dramatic turnarounds at Virginia State University since he became its 14th president in [&hellip[...]
VMI report released; calls school ‘traditionally run by white men, for white men’
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. [[...]
VMI names Wins new superintendent
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 […]
VMI alums and cadets report racial slurs used on ‘regular basis’
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 […]
Yorktown consulting firm sues SCHEV over VMI probe contract
A Yorktown-based consultancy is suing the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia and the firm conducting an investigation into Virginia Military Institute‘s racial attitudes and practices, a contract the plaintiff unsuccessfully bid on last year. In a civil suit filed Feb. 11 in Richmond Circuit Court, the Center for Applied Innovation LLC (CAI) seeks […]
Interim VMI superintendent named
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 […]
SW Va. sees COVID increase; governor urges caution
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 […]
VMI superintendent resigns amid racism probe
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 […]