Moses Ezekiel monument to be moved to New Market

After The Cadet solved the mystery of the unnamed Civil War memorial that might be moved as Sir Moses Ezekiel's '866 Confederate Memorial to Reconciliation and Reunification, then reported on the VMI Family's views of the potential move from Arlington National Cemetery to the New Market battlefield, the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) Board of Visitors (BOV) unanimously approved the relocation during its September 13, 2023 full Board meeting. Media reports of the decision almost immediately re-surfaced racism allegations against VMI and included accusations against Governor Youngkin and VMI. An important objective in exercising freedom of speech is not only to report on events, but to correct inaccuracies where they are found that inpact our readers. Following the BOV's vote, the Washington Post published its article on the decision under the bold headline, "Youngkin directs VMI to accept controversial Confederate statue" [emphasis added]. The online version of the article includes what appears to be a photo from the statue's original 1914 dedication with the caption, "Youngkin directs VMI to accept controversial Confederate statue© Library of Congress" [emphasis added]. Although the article that follows does state Governor Youngkin actually "asked" VMI to accept the statue, the headline is what most readers focus on. The actual BOV discussions provide the accurate recounting of the discussions and decisions. As presented to the full board by BOV Member Mr. Hugh Fain '80, "… we've been asked to present a recommended motion coming from the superintendent. The recommended motion is that it's move[d] that the board of visitors accept the Confederate Memorial placement in the New Market Battlefield site Historical Park…" [emphasis added]. The full Board, consisting of appointees from the administrations of former Governor McAuliffe, former Governor Northam, and current Governor Youngkin unanimously approved Maj. Gen. Wins' recommended motion to accept the statue. Neither the superintendent, nor any member of the Board, voiced any opposition to accepting the monument with one BOV member making the unchallenged statement, "I think it is a great idea". There appears to be no publicly disclosed statement by VMI published or sent to the Washington Post attempting to correct the error in the article title asserting Gov. Youngkin directed VMI to take the monument when, in fact, the BOV supported Maj. Gen. Wins' recommendation to accept the offer as Mr. Fain '80 stated. Previous reporting in The Cadet on this subject, including the results of an online survey for the VMI Family and New Market residents to voice their opinions on the potential move, supports a conclusion the decision appears to be without any real controversy, except for a few. The survey results also indicate that although the majority of survey respondents preferred the statue to remain in Arlington National Cemetery and, if it had to move, New Market was the preferred location with the remains of those buried beneath it to stay in Arlington. It appears from the BOV meeting that the course of action supported by the survey is the one to be implemented. It seems rather fitting that this monument will come to reside in the same location as the Stonewall Jackson statue that was removed from VMI in December 2020 after remaining members of the BOV, after two resigned in protest against the move, approved the action. Both of these statues were sculpted by Sir Moses Ezekiel Class of 1866 who was a veteran of the New Market battle and VMI's first Jewish Cadet. If there ever was an appropriate location for the Confederate monument aside from Arlington National Cemetery, it would be alongside another one of Ezekiel's tributes to the citizen soldier. Many of the details for the move, to include the time schedule and statue's eventual placement on the New Market grounds, have yet to be decided.