Racial slurs have been common and sexual misconduct numerous at Virginia Military Institute, according to a report from investigators, The Roanoke Times reported.
The Barnes & Thornburg independent investigation into VMI – ordered by Gov. Ralph Northam, a 1981 VMI graduate – started two months ago, with an interim report published recently.
According to the report, current cadets and alumni from the last two decades said use of the “n-word” was commonplace. And in VMI’s documented school investigations into allegations involving race between 2015 and 2020, most involved use of the slur.
8% of female cadets reported suffering sexual assault. Other incidents described include commandant’s staff repeatedly walking into women’s rooms when they were changing, a man urinating on a sleeping woman and men defecating in bags later thrown into women’s rooms.
“A woman said that in the 2010s, an administrator raped her and the inspector general found the report to be substantiated. She said the college’s top leader rejected the findings, and the administrator resigned,” The Roanoke Times reported.
The investigation is set to be done by June and a final report is expected for June or July.
