Governor's Appointment Gives Former VMI Superintendent Wins New Influence Over Institute's Future

Maj. Gen. Cedric T. Wins, the former superintendent of Virginia Military Institute, has been appointed by Gov. Abigail Spanberger to the Virginia Commission on Higher Education Board Appointments, placing him on a state body that shapes the selection of those considered for governing boards across Virginia's public colleges and universities, including VMI's Board of Visitors (BOV). For VMI, the appointment carries added weight because Wins is no ordinary former college administrator. He is a VMI alumnus, a retired two-star general, and the superintendent whose tenure became closely identified with the post-2020 effort to remake the Institute's culture, history, structure, and policies. Now, after the VMI BOV declined to renew his contract, Wins has moved into a state role that gives him indirect influence over the selection pipeline for future BOV members. Spanberger's announcement underscored that authority, saying the commission would help "reinvigorat[e] the process by which potential appointees at Virginia's public institutions of higher education are reviewed and evaluated," and describing its function as "recommending quality board members." That makes Wins' appointment more than a routine personnel move. At a time when VMI remains under political, cultural, and legislative scrutiny, it positions the former superintendent within the state appointment process that shapes the governing boards overseeing public institutions like VMI. In a public statement after he refused a one-year extension and the BOV voted not to provide him a multi-year contract, Wins said the board's action "was not based on my performance or the tangible progress we achieved." Instead, he called it "the result of a partisan choice that abandons the values of honor, integrity, and excellence upon which VMI was built." He went further, warning that VMI risked "returning to an obsessive focus on our distant past" and saying cadets could be subjected "to a cycle of politicization." Those remarks cast his departure not as a standard leadership transition, but as part of a deeper fight over who will define the Institute's future. That perspective did not suddenly emerge at the end of his tenure. In his cadet Bomb yearbook biography, Wins wrote that VMI "didn't teach me to be a man, because that can't be taught," and added, "even if you could, I doubt I'd become your [VMI's] type of man." Read now, the passage stands out because it suggests that Wins long saw himself in tension with parts of VMI's culture, ethos, and expectations. Years later, as superintendent, he would become one of the leading public faces of the effort to change that culture while preserving what he called the school's "right traditions" as her and his supporters determined them to be. His appointment also fits into a broader pattern in VMI politics: governors using appointments to influence the Institute's direction. That pattern began to crystallize in October 2020, when then-Gov. Ralph Northam and other Democratic leaders sent the letter that launched the state-ordered investigation of VMI. "We write to express our deep concerns about the clear and appalling culture of ongoing structural racism at the Virginia Military Institute," the letter said. It argued that "internal action alone is no longer sufficient" and promised that "new forward-looking members will continue to be appointed to the Board of Visitors." That language now carries added significance because Northam himself is no longer just the author of that warning. He was one of Spanberger's first appointments to the VMI BOV. Taken together, Northam's placement on the BOV and Wins' placement on a state appointments panel suggest that the struggle over VMI has not ended with a change in superintendent. It has moved into the bodies that influence who governs the school and how long the reform agenda continues. The legislative backdrop sharpens that picture. House Bill 1377 would establish a task force to examine VMI's future, including its response to the 2021 SCHEV report from the investigation initiated by Northam, its academic mission, admissions trends, and whether the Institute has made substantial changes to reduce conduct perceived as racist, sexist, misogynistic, or tied to sexual misconduct. The bill also targets VMI's continued relationship to Confederate commemoration. House Bill 1374, defeated in committee, would have changed the makeup of the VMI BOV for appointments to cap alumni membership at 8 of the 16 gubernatorial appointees, require at least 6 non-alumni Virginia residents, and require at least 5 members with senior-level U.S. military experience. Although that bill failed, HB1385, covered in this edition of The Cadet, still significantly restructures the Board by extending member terms past the next governor's administration, among other changes. Those measures show that Richmond is not debating only VMI's past. Lawmakers are actively considering changes to its governance, oversight, demographics, and public purpose. For alumni, that means the contest over VMI's identity is still being fought as much through state power as through internal leadership. For cadets, it means decisions about the school's leadership, disciplinary climate, traditions, long-term direction, and – most importantly – the VMI experience they live and pay for, remain tied to political and legislative currents well beyond post. And for VMI itself, the question is whether these moves are isolated appointments or part of a continuing strategy. Northam's 2020 letter said, "The future will look much different from the past." Wins, after the BOV's decision not to renew his contract, warned against a return to "our distant past." With Northam now on the Board of Visitors and Wins newly placed on a commission that vets and recommends future BOV members, that argument is no longer abstract. It is embedded in the institutions that will shape VMI's next chapter. Send your comment on this directly to the BOV using this link: www.thecadetfoundation.org/action VMI or its alumni agencies do not provide support to The Cadet. Please help us remain one of the oldest independent student newspapers in Virginia through a donation at www.thecadetfoundation.org