Reinstatement of Moses Ezekiel award

The office of the Dean recently announced it is accepting nominations to award the Sir Moses Ezekiel Award to graduating Cadets in 2023. Previously the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) Board of Visitors Commemorations and Memorials Naming and Review Committee (CMNRC) unanimously recommended the VMI Board of Visitors to decline the Sir Moses Ezekiel and the "Stonewall" Jackson awards starting with the Class of 2022. According to the minutes from the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) CMNRC on November 21, 2021 the two awards were provided to VMI and awarded by the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC). According to the minutes, Mr. Richard K. Hines V '66, Chair of the CMNRC at the time, stated in the meeting, "Two more awards given annually at the Institute Awards Ceremony that BG Bob Moreschi, Deputy Superintendent for Academics and Dean of the Faculty, had asked the Committee to consider. These awards, the Stonewall Jackson Award for physics and the Sir Moses Ezekiel Award for creative endeavors, are bestowed by the United Daughters of the Confederacy. While they are not Institute awards, the Institute does permit the UDC to give these awards and participate in the Institute Awards Ceremony. The Institute has no connection with the UDC other than these awards." Also according to the CMNRC minutes, "the committee discussed the appropriateness of the UDC giving awards to graduating VMI students before unanimously deciding to recommend to BG Moreschi that VMI decline these awards, beginning with the Class of 2022." The VMI website does not show information they were awarded last year. According to the announcement from the Dean's office, the Moses Ezekiel Award will be now available for 2023. The Sir Moses Ezekiel Award is now awarded annually, according to the Dean's email, "to a cadet whose accomplishments in such areas of the humanities as visual arts, the theater arts, music, literature, history and museology have significantly enriched the cultural lives of his or her fellow cadets and enhanced the reputation of VMI." There is no mention of the "Stonewall Jackson Award". According to VMI's website, The Stonewall Jackson Memorial Award was established in 1957 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the prize was presented annually to the first standing graduate in the physics curriculum. Sir Moses Ezekiel Award nominations are due in April and further information can be obtained from The Dean's Office.