UPDATE: YOUR VOICE IS BEING HEARD !

Alumni Free Speech Alliance Calls for VMI to implement the calls to action on this petition!

In a letter to the VMI Board of Visitors (BOV), Secretary of Education and Attorney-General of Virginia, the Alumni Free Speech Alliance (AFSA) leadership, joined by Virginia AFSA Affiliates: The Jefferson Council, The Generals Redoubt. Madison Cabinet for Free Speech, and The Cadet Foundation  expressed their deep concerns about what appear to be clear and deliberate acts by the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) administration, and some members of its Board of Visitors while calling for implementation of the actions requested in our petition.

There are reports Maj. Gen. Wins plans to call in cadets on the newspaper staff. This is raising addition concerns after the account provided by a former editor of the newspaper to FIRE and others, contained in the AFSA letter, detail an encounter with Maj. Gen. Wins, Col. Wyatt, and VMI Commandant, Col. Adrian Bogart in 2022 the former cadet described as “hostile and designed to intimidate him” into publishing an OP-ED the administration wrote condemning the newspaper, its writers and alumni supporting

READ THE LETTER HERE and scroll the way to the end for the update with additional details.

There are many reasons you should support this petition and challenge VMI's actions to restrict or otherwise control the cadet's student newspaper.

If you have any hesitation, AT THE MINUMUM, view the video below to see what VMI did to its own cadets and alumni; how Board of Visitors and Executive Committee member Mr. Gottwald stood up to disapprove of VMI's actions; and how VMI intends to avoid transparency and an objective investigation.

WATCH THIS IMPORTANT VIDEO OF MR. GOTTWALD AT THE MEETING:

The facts below show a chain of events culminating in VMI apparently working with various media outlets against their own cadets and explains the BOV and administration's "walking quorum" plan, seen in the video, to keep inquiry of these serious matters from the public.

Summary of the Issue:

The VMI administration, and some members of its BOV have, are apparently working to: 1) restrict freedom of speech and viewpoint diversity at VMI by seeking to control, influence, and/or shut down their student newspaper, one of the oldest independent college newspapers in Virginia; 2) publicly discredit and/or punish their own cadets for "speaking truth to power" and allowing all viewpoints to be heard by working with and/or influencing the media to question their integrity and discredit reporting that does not fit the administration's agenda; and 3) conceal their potentially unethical and/or unlawful activities by deliberately planning to avoid public visibility of their actions.

The actions this petition requests:

1. The VMI BOV give The Cadet independent student newspaper all support necessary, including approval of the permit drafted by cadets in coordination with the Student Press Law Center, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), and the cadets' legal representatives to restore the traditional privileges afforded to cadets and formally recognize The Cadet without the administration's controls and restrictions on its independence. Not doing so is, in itself, may be a form of retaliation and/or repression of the cadets' First Amendment rights and risks continued adverse action by the administration.

2. The VMI BOV perform its statutory duties and conduct a public, fair, thorough, open, transparent, impartial, and equitable review/investigation into the actions by VMI to question the integrity of its cadets and alumni over the journalism awards won by the cadet's independent student newspaper, The Cadet, and hold those responsible accountable if that review/investigation substantiates the statements in this petition or other inappropriate and/or illegal actions. The investigation to be organized and conducted by BOV members acceptable to the cadets and former cadets impacted, as the aggrieved parties. 

Facts justifying the actions requested in the petition:

The Cadet is one of the oldest independent college newspapers in Virginia.

On Saturday, May 6, 2023,The Cadet became the first, and currently only, student newspaper in the Virginia Press Association's (VPA) 75-year history to win VPA's top award for Journalistic Integrity and Community Service.

The VPA's judge's comments honored the cadets for their "fair, objective and courageous coverage of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) program at VMI" stating, in part, "The Cadet insisted that the implementation of the DEI program from Virginia’s governor be conducted in an open and transparent manner and consider the voices and views of all stakeholders – alumni, cadets, parents, faculty, and staff." and "Simply put, these young people put their academic and professional careers on the line for what they believed.” In a separate categories, The Cadet won multiple awards, including First Place for investigative reporting of the Cadet Counseling Center at VMI.

WATCH THE INSPIRING VIDEO OF THE JUDGE'S FULL COMMENTS AND THE AWARDS PRESENTATION:

On May 8, 2023, although the VMI Dean termed the awards "wonderful accomplishments" and promised to look into announcing the awards at the upcoming Institute Awards Ceremony, the VMI Director of Communications, acting in his official capacity and under full authority of the VMI Superintendent, initiated contact with the VPA and brought into question the integrity of VMI cadets, alumni, and challenged the VPA's professional integrity, its recognition of the cadets, and The Cadet, with awards for their coverage of DEI and mental health issues at VMI.

On May 15, 2023,The VPA Board met and determined no action was required on the challenge to the awards.

On May 16, 2023, at VMI's May 2023 graduation, the Governor of Virginia publicly honored these cadets and VMI. WATCH THE VIDEO:

On May 18, 2023,disregarding the VPA Board's decision and recognition by the governor, the VMI Communications Director redoubled his attack on the cadets, through the media, and directly with the VPA, resulting in a formal VPA investigation. 

VMI deliberately initiated many of these events and, had not the Director of Communications engaged with, and responded to, the media in the way he did, so as to continue discrediting the awards, the awardees, VPA, and alumni involved, there would have been no controversy.

VMI's perpetuation of misinformation ultimately resulted in the VPA’s formal independent investigation and associated negative media coverage. These are all documented in the limited email correspondence from the Director of Communications VMI released under FOIA to date. While the final VPA report exonerated the cadets, and supported their awards, the damage to the reputations and business of those involved is already done and those responsible must be held accountable.

The Virginia General Assembly previously and unanimously recognized The Cadet as the student-produced, and alumni supported, medium of news and information published by VMI cadets and that the cadets have complete editorial control of its contents under The Cadet Foundation. It appears that VMI rejects the Governor, the General Assembly, and its policies by deliberately providing selective, false and/or misleading information with the specific objective to intimidate cadets to self-censor or to directly limit cadet free speech, if not shut down or control The Cadet completely.

The VMI administration withheld information from the Institute's own BOV, including the Director of Communications involvement in starting and perpetuating the controversy and when those efforts failed, and the final VPA report exonerated the cadets, VMI did not similarly distribute the favorable investigation report - even to the BOV.

Video from the July 13, 2023 BOV Executive Session shows the current BOV President, with full support of and agreement by the VMI Superintendent and the Communications Director intends to use a “walking quorum” to conduct discussions on VMI’s actions so as to avoid their discussions being a “meeting”, open to the public, IAW §2.2-3701.

When Executive Committee member, Teddy Gottwald, challenged VMI's actions during that Executive Session, the Superintendent and Communications Director provided false and/or misleading statements that concealed VMI's involvement attacking The Cadet. When they were challenged, the BOV president stopped discussion with the "walking quorum" plan to conduct secret talks out of the public view as can be seen in the video of Mr. Gottwald at the BOV meeting posted at the top of this petition.

Members of the public seeking records on VMI’s actions in this matter under the FOIA are met with high costs (set by the Communications Director) to fill them and other obstacles. This makes access to the records unaffordable to most, especially those with lower or fixed income, while VMI freely offered and gave  extensive records to selected media to advance VMI’s agenda against its own cadets and alumni. VMI appears to use their ability to charge under § 2.2-3704 of the FOIA as a means to hinder transparency. Still other records are withheld by invoking various FOIA exemptions only the BOV or an independent investigator can surpass.

VMI appears to be doing all it can to hide, conceal, and/or make access to records unaffordable, and/or otherwise prevent the public from knowing of their actions.

VMI's current walking quorum strategy, and passing the investigation from the BOV to VMI's superintendent, who, himself is the subject of questions in the matter, demonstrates a continued effort to conceal the facts. Some of these also avoids creating records discoverable under FOIA while ensuring the administration can tell “their story” and not be challenged by those they accuse and injure.

In one example, the Minutes of the Executive Committee meeting, written by the Communications Director, acting as the BOV Secretary, mention little of what actually happened in the meeting or the true nature of the controversy.

Had private citizens not recorded the meeting on their own, none of what transpired would be known. Only an independent inquiry can reveal the truth.

We value VMI’s contributions to the Commonwealth and our nation and fully support its mission, BUT its actions with regard to The Cadet cannot be allowed to go unchallenged. VMI' apparent move to continue repressing freedom of expression and the student newspaper, while deliberately acting to conceal their actions from discovery, visibility, and accountability. This is inconsistent with VMI’s Code of Honor.

Such a dangerous precedent cannot be allowed.

An objective investigation is the ONLY WAY for the truth to come out and is essential to protect cadets’ freedom of speech from retaliation, reprisals, and overt or covert acts or intimidation.

Everyone should have the opportunity to freely inquire and challenge their public bodies. Students should not be attacked for speaking truth to power. Freedom of expression and speech for all students is clearly at risk if this is allowed to stand.