Black man to lead VMI for first time in history

Under fierce attack over racism in its ranks, the Virginia Military Institute has appointed a Black man to lead the school for the first time in its 181-year history, VMI officials announced Friday. Retired Army Maj. Gen. Cedric T. Wins, who graduated fromVMI in 1985, will serve as interim superintendent until the Board of Visitors appoints a permanent chief to oversee the country’s oldest state-funded military college. He takes over for retired Gen. J.H. Binford Peay III. Gov. Ralph Northam, D, ordered an independent investigation of what he and other officials called “the clear andappalling culture of ongoing structural racism” at VMI, which received $19 million from the state in fiscal 2020.