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.

Praise for Twisted Tales from VMI "I laughed till I stopped " Dave Hagemann, '80 "Me, too." John Cooper, '83 "Written proof my roommate was in serious need of some psychiatric help." Matt Waring, '83 "The funniest thing I have read since the last funny thing I read." Tom Hathaway, '72 "That boy is nuttier than pecan pie " Lynn Seldon, '83, author Virginia's Ring "I'm now convinced my Brother Rat was dropped on his head as a youngster - many, many times." Scott Belliveau, '83...

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.

During the Civil War, the Confederate government passed legislation creating a national military academy and establishing the rank of Cadet. The national military college was unnecessary because the Confederacy already possessed numerous state military colleges However, the Confederate government failed to properly engage these individual state schools by providing curriculum recommendations or commissioning their graduates. This shortsighted and domineering attitude by the Confederate government ensured that the military colleges failed in their mission to produce a large number of officers for the Confederate army. It was the state governments (especially Virginia and South Carolina), not the Confederacy, that realized the importance that military colleges in the Confederacy and kept them operating with very little Confederate support. Virginia made a conscious decision to keep VMI open, not as a short term “officer candidate school,” but with her four-year military and academic curriculum intact. Supporting the school both militarily and financially, VMI produced the most officers of the southern military colleges for service in the Confederate army. Additionally, the cadets themselves were used as a military unit by the Confederate and state governments numerous times in the war.