Originally published July 13, 2021, at Dissident Mama.
Rick Dirtwater, an alumnus of Virginia Military Institute and an occasional opinion writer for Identity Dixie, gives us a deep dive into the cultural genocide happening at the historic school, which used to be the proving ground for making modern cavaliers and gentlemen warriors. So, Dirtwater shares his personal experience with the former VMI ethos and its Spartan lifestyle of regimented training used to build men of strong character. Unfortunately (and predictably), the institution has finally fallen victim to the cancer of wokeness.
We discuss how the devolution has occurred, including the abolition of the “old corps” via SCOTUS’s United States v. Virginia some 25 years ago, “turncoat” Ralph Northam’s totalitarian reconstruction of the Old Dominion and its premiere military school, and the fourth-estate hit pieces insisting that the college has a “racist and sexist culture.” Whereas “Save the males” used to be the rallying cry around VMI, the progressive precept is now death by 1,000 cuts and you’d better damn like it. Such barbaric times leave little room for honor, which is precisely by design.
Download this episode or watch on YouTube.
Some further reading on VMI and Virginians’ roots as a martial and dutiful people:
• “Death of the American Prussia: Virginia” by Padraig Martin
• “Say ‘No’ From the Start” by Tom Shackleford
• “Stonewall Jackson and VMI” by H.V. Traywick, Jr.
• “‘Chesty’ Puller and the Southern Military Tradition” by Michael Martin
• “Pseudo Shame at VMI” and other related content by Phil Leigh
• “The Real VMI: A Little Meritocracy 1839-2021?” and three other VMI essays by Forrest L. Marion
• “Citizen Soldiers of Dixie” by Anonymous
• “Grit and Grace Are What We Need” by Dissident Mama
Truth warrior, Jesus follower, wife, and boymom. Apologetics practitioner for Orthodox Christianity, the Southern tradition, homeschooling, and freedom. Recovering feminist-socialist-atheist, graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and retired mainstream journalist turned domesticated belle and rabble-rousing rhetorician. You can read her blog at Dissident Mama.
VMI’s board is entirely appointed by the state governor, according to its website. All board members have been appointed within the last 10 yrs or so by the last 2 governors, both caustic leftists. The Citadel is not better than VMI in many ways at all but it’s board structure is better, with several board members elected by alumni. Also The Citadel benefits from being farther from DC in a more conservative state, with heritage laws in place that make it much more difficult to remove historical monuments or even change historical names. I grieve over what’s happening at VMI but with the entire board representing bolshevik governors & only indirectly the alumni, the new reconstruction is probably not over. Hope The Citadel’s better structural circumstances keeps further revolutionary change at bay, but we’ll just have to see.