To the Editor - A Farewell to the Shared VMI Identity

Over the past days, our Institute has been faced with a wide swath of changes that is threatening the autonomy of the Corps. Among the changes were alterations to the Honor System, removal of traditions, and implementation of new ideological training. The proposed changes to the Honor System have not been fully made transparent to the Corps and have forced us to speculate on what will change. It is a grim prospect because if they are not telling us what the propositions are, then there is no way that they will ask our opinion on our honor system. The removal of traditions from VMI are difficult to talk about because of the nuance around them. If you are not a part of VMI, it is difficult to understand why we operate the way we do and it is impossible to understand our traditions. This explains the disappearance of anything relating to Jackson, the ending of the New Market charge, and the changes to the Ratline. Outside of the system, these traditions do not make sense and have been misinterpreted. But this is true of all ways that VMI operates. That does not mean that we should change to acquiesce to the outside world. The new training we are receiving is pushing an ideology that is still being debated as true or right in the public square today. Yet it is being taught to us as fact. The training is not simply about not discriminating against people for race, sex, economic status, or religious creed. VMI, as a system, does not have a problem with this. At VMI, no one is concerned with who you were before you Matriculated. The Ratline, properly conducted, acts as a great equalizer and requires the Rats to lean on each other irrelevant of race, sex, or creed. The prestigious, honorable school that we all swore an oath to on Matriculation Days, seems to be fading away. It is my firm belief that VMI is and can continue to be a great equalizer in which men and women, regardless of race, creed, color, origin, or sex, cast off their prior background and become Brother Rats; honorable, service-minded individuals with a strong sense of Honor and Integrity. However, if we allow reckless change, we will inevitably lose our identity as the most unique institution of higher learning in the country. The unofficial motto of our school is "Don't Do Ordinary." If the Corps as a whole allows these changes to happen, then we will, in fact, be just another ordinary institute. In doing so, we will lose the core of who we are, and we will indeed say farewell to our shared VMI identity.