Scott Yenor details how DEI gutted VMI’s standards of honor and excellence.

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The Claremont Institute Exposes Decades of Rot at Virginia Military Institute in New Report

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The Claremont Institute’s Center for the American Way of Life ([link removed] ) has released a sobering new report ([link removed] ) by Washington Fellow Scott Yenor, detailing how decades of mandated gender integration and contemporary civil rights policies have eroded the historic standards of the Virginia Military Institute, once renowned for cultivating men of honor and principle.

VMI’s transformation reflects a widespread national trend, as traditional institutions lose their core mission under pressure to conform to modern ideologies and bureaucratic mandates. “Restoring American excellence depends on respecting differences and defending institutions that cultivate virtue and leadership according to their founding mission,” wrote Yenor.

Read the Report Here
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Since the Supreme Court’s 1996 United States v. Virginia ruling compelled VMI to admit women, the school began to alter its unique adversative system and standards dramatically. Once a revered, unofficial tradition, the Code of a Gentleman was slowly replaced by the more inclusive Code of a Cadet. Diversity, equity, and inclusion policies—implemented after 2021—prescribe the hiring of more female officers, a chief diversity officer, and expanded bias training, contributing to the erosion of the military college.

True reform requires legal and political action to permit and encourage single-sex education and gender-specific training consistent with American founding values.

The Claremont Institute chiefly recommends that the Supreme Court overturn United States v. Virginia in a manner that demonstrates the public can benefit from an arrangement that encourages and equips men and women for (at least somewhat) distinct life trajectories. A victory in a case like this would create space for additional victories that uphold sex-specific goals.

“The lessons of VMI should speak to every American concerned with the strength and character of our republic,” emphasizes Yenor. “True progress lies not in the flattening of differences, but in the flourishing of complementary excellence that honors both men and women in their distinct paths.”

The Claremont Institute urges Congress, policymakers, and the public to reconsider the wisdom of recent mandates and work to restore leadership and virtue in American institutions. VMI’s lessons should inform every citizen concerned with the enduring strength of our republic. Progress must honor distinct paths to excellence for both men and women, fostering complementary strengths rather than flattening differences.

This report is only the beginning. Your support ensures we can take findings like these and turn them into action—pressing for the reforms and legal victories needed to restore institutions like VMI to their true mission.

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About The Claremont Institute

The Claremont Institute is dedicated to restoring the principles of the American Founding to their rightful, preeminent authority in our national life. Through scholarship, public policy, and educational initiatives, The Claremont Institute seeks to recover America’s founding principles and advance a government based on the enduring truths of the Declaration of Independence.

The mission of the Claremont Institute Center for the American Way of Life is to refute woke doctrines, reclaim America's institutions, and form a new Right.

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