Virginia Military Institute (Campus History)

In 1839, the Virginia Military Institute became the nation's first state-sponsored military college when the state arsenal in Lexington, Virginia, adopted an additional duty providing a college education to a small group of cadets. This humble experiment became the nation's model for educating the citizen-soldier. Today cadets live a military lifestyle while pursuing an undergraduate degree and may choose to accept a commission in any branch of the armed forces upon graduation. Noted alumni include Pony Express organizer Ben Ficklin (1849), Nobel Peace Prize recipient Gen. George Marshall (1901), Polar explorer Adm. Richard Byrd (1908), U.S. Supreme Court Justice Tom Clark (1921), and actor Dabney Coleman (1957). Numbered among the alumni are over 260 general officers, 13 Rhodes Scholars, and a saint in the Episcopal Church. The Post, as the campus is called, is a National Historic District with its distinctive Gothic Revival architecture surrounding the central parade ground.

• Twisted Tales from VMI: Real-Life Stories From the Virginia Military Institute, Barracks, Post and Downtown
• The Hard Corps, 21st Century Leadership Development
• HOW TO BE SUCCESSFUL AT THE VIRGINIA MILITARY INSTITUTE: The keys to success written by a cadet for future cadets
• Virginia's Ring
• The Institute - Virginia Military Institute
• Brother Rat
• Twisted Tales from VMI: Real-Life Stories From the Virginia Military Institute, Barracks, Post and Downtown
• Drawing Out the Man: The Vmi Story
• Seed Corn of the Confederacy: The Story of the Cadets of the Virginia Military Institute at the Battle of New Market