VMI Board doesn’t extend superintendent’s contract, prompting cries of racism
VENN
RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- In a controversial decision, the Board of Visitors at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) has declined to extend the contract of its current superintendent, Major General Cedric Wins.
“Those who voted against extending or renewing his contract were very cognizant that a strong successful black man, a graduate of VMI, was a threat to them,” Virginia NAACP President Reverend Cozy Bailey told 8News.
Wins, the school’s first Black superintendent, has been in the role since 2020 after VMI’s previous superintendent resigned following the Washington Post's report on a history of “relentless racism” at the college. A 2021 state-ordered review backed up that report finding that “racial slurs and jokes are not uncommon” at VMI.
“Superintendent Wins took on this challenge. He was recruited to address these issues and improve the culture and climate at Virginia Military Institute and make it a more welcoming and safe place,” explained State Senator Jennifer Carroll Foy (D-Prince William).
Democrats including Carroll Foy, a VMI graduate herself, believe that Wins’ contract wasn’t renewed because the board, most of whom were appointed by Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin, views Wins as a DEI hire trying to change VMI’s culture on racism.
“It is very well documented that they felt offended because the Stonewall Jackson statue has been removed. They had disdain for the fact that there was a chief diversity officer at Virginia Military Institute,” Foy told 8News.
Foy alleges VMI’s Board of Visitors President John Adams told her in a phone call that the board “no longer wants a black superintendent.” Adams, through a spokesperson, denied that on Monday.
Adding another dimension to his story, Republican Congressman Ben Cline (VA-06) claims Foy told a member of VMI’s Board of Visitors that state funding could be put in peril if the board didn’t extend Wins' contract. Foy claims Cline “completely mischaracterized” her conversation with a board member, who she said was Adams.
