VMI graduate: Any evaluation of VMI needs to understand its idiosyncratic place in higher education

VMI graduate: Any evaluation of VMI needs to understand its idiosyncratic place in higher education

There is very little that, on the face of it, sounds attractive about the Virginia Military Institute experience: little sleep, a regimented schedule, strict uniform code, restrictive rules on behavior, not to mention the grueling first-year Ratline. In my first week at the institute, colloquially called “Hell Week,” it was difficult to make friends as people dropped out so frequently, deciding (fairly enough) that this life was not for them. Bu…