Five years after an investigation found a “racist and sexist culture” at Virginia Military Institute, state Democrats are moving ahead with a plan that could eventually cut off public funding for the country’s oldest state-sponsored military college.

A 2021 state investigation detailed accounts of Black cadets who experienced discrimination, finding that institutional racism and sexism was not only present at VMI, but tolerated and unaddressed. Last year, VMI’s Board of Visitors faced renewed scrutiny after it voted not to renew the contract of the school’s first Black superintendent, retired Army Maj. Gen. Cedric T. Wins, amid conservative criticism over diversity initiatives. 

Del. Dan Helmer, D-Fairfax, put forward a bill to form an advisory task force to “determine whether VMI should continue to be a state-sponsored institution of higher education.” 

The legislation, which is still awaiting a final vote from the full House of Delegates, advanced through committee on party-line votes. It would create a task force to look into VMI’s academic curriculum, audit how leadership responded to the 2021 state investigation and review other areas for a final report. 

According to VMI, state funding made up 27.5% of its roughly $120 million operating budget in fiscal year 2025 and accounts for 28.6% in FY26. 

The bill aims to ensure “that taxpayer money in Virginia is only used to advance the interests of Virginia,” Helmer said in a Jan. 20 Facebook video. 

“It takes a look at Virginia Military Institute and makes sure that they’re doing the right thing for Virginia, that they’re moving past their Lost Cause ideology,” he added. 

Those remarks drew a rebuke from retired U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. David Furness, VMI’s superintendent, when Furness spoke against the legislation during a House subcommittee meeting in January. 

“It is hard for me to understand how the institution lauded for its leadership model by so many notable state and national leaders could be described by the patron of this bill as committed to the Lost Cause of the Confederacy,” Furness said. “That may have been true of VMI in the past. It is not now, nor will it be in the future.” 

The 2021 state investigative report, done by the Washington, D.C.-based law firm Barnes and Thornburg, detailed several other issues at VMI — including “inadequately addressed” sexual assault reports and a culture that created barriers for necessary changes. 

Helmer has also proposed a bill that’s received bipartisan support, to remove language in state code allowing VMI to require victims of sexual violence who report drug or alcohol use to undergo counseling. Furness spoke in support of the measure, saying VMI has not used the exemption, but the college doesn’t want “to stand in the way of any reporting of sexual assault or sexual harassment.” 

The report said taxpayers and lawmakers should hold VMI accountable to “prove that it is implementing its diversity, equity, and inclusion proposals” because state dollars help fund the military college. It highlighted the steps taken at the time, and Wins’ appointment as superintendent. 

Furness told the House subcommittee that VMI has adopted 34 of the report’s 38 recommendations, with three others moving forward. “VMI is defined by an uncompromising honor system, which is more fair, equitable and transparent today than in the history of the institute,” he said. 

Jeremiah Woods, a former VMI cadet who says he left the college after facing racial targeting as a Black man, addressed the subcommittee after Furness. Woods said cadets were taught about Confederate troops, “while enslaved people who supported VMI are erased.” 

The 2021 state investigation concluded that VMI did have “an outdated, idealized reverence for the Civil War and the Confederacy,” with members in the community advocating for honoring Confederate traditions. 

Another Democrat-led measure seeks a major overhaul at VMI. 

The bill from Del. Michael Feggans, D-Virginia Beach, would dissolve VMI’s Board of Visitors and transfer the college’s governance to Virginia State University’s board. 

“Change is hard,” Feggans said Monday while presenting the bill to the House Higher Education Subcommittee. “Changing culture is even harder, and changing culture in a military environment is one of the hardest things one can undertake.” 

Del. Anne Ferrell H. Tata, R-Virginia Beach, was among many who raised doubts about the idea. She noted the schools have different missions and are more than 160 miles away from each other. 

“Geographically and logistically, this doesn’t make sense,” Tata said. 

After dozens of public speakers, fellow Democrats said they believed a look is needed to address concerns but also voiced hesitation about the legislation. 

“People have talked about the need for addressing how the board is appointed and what we expect the board to be doing and, most importantly, having that transparency and accountability that I think is important,” said Del. Sam Rasoul, D-Roanoke City. 

Rasoul moved to have the bill passed by for the day to give Feggans more time to talk with stakeholders about addressing the ongoing issues. 

The U.S. Department of Defense issued a statement on Feggans’ bill on Tuesday that urges the General Assembly to consider its implications on military readiness and “the federal government’s long-standing investment in this critical institution.” 

“DoW reserves the right to take extraordinary measures to protect the integrity of VMI and our commitment to the cadets and midshipmen currently training there remains steadfast,” Sean Parnell, a Pentagon spokesperson, wrote in a social media post. (President Donald Trump’s administration refers to the Defense Department as the “Department of War,” but Congress has not changed the department’s legal name.) 

In a statement, a VMI spokesperson said the school is “reviewing all recently filed bills and plans to work with our elected officials to demonstrate VMI’s continued progress and ongoing value to the Commonwealth of Virginia.” 

Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger appointed five members to VMI’s board, including former Gov. Ralph Northam, on her first day in office. A Spanberger spokesperson did not respond when asked if the governor would sign Feggans' bill.