History Stories

Virginia Military Institute cadet Syed Eshan Shah ’27, a history major from Clarksville, Maryland, was one of the finalists from the 781 students who applied nationwide.

Lt. Col. Mark Boonshoft, assistant professor in the Department of History at Virginia Military Institute and the holder of the Conrad M. Hall ’65 Chair in American Constitutional History, is featured on “Stories for the Semiquincentennial,” an episode of the public radio program, “With Good Reason,” that starts June 27. The show airs on 136 radio stations in 36 states. On the show, Boonshoft talks about his forthcoming book, “The Violent Origins of Constitutional Democracy in Revolutionary New York.” He shares how ideals that came from the Revolutionary War, like representative government and liberty, didn’t always make their way into […]

The National Academy of Education (NAEd), an honorary educational society, has selected Maj. Zachary Deibel, assistant professor in the Department of History at Virginia Military Institute, as a 2026 NAEd/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellow.

When Gracie Harlow ’27 started her collegiate career, she felt like she was going through the motions and not obtaining any growth. She started at Hollins University, an all-female college near Roanoke, but ended up transferring to Virginia Military Institute after two years.

Owen Johns ’28 has always been interested in how the world works, which is what drew him to an international studies major at Virginia Military Institute.

Vaughn Scribner will discuss the dynamic experiences of those who fought in the American Revolutionary War and the environmental, psychological, and social impact of combat on those who served at the front lines.

Maj. Mattie Webb, assistant professor in the Department of History at Virginia Military Institute, was recently named a nonresident fellow with the Institute for Global Affairs at Eurasia Group (IGA), a nonprofit research and public education organization focused on geopolitics.

VMI hosted a Japan U.S. Military Program (JUMP) event featuring a reception and expert panel discussion. JUMP, a partnership between the Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA and the Embassy of Japan, honors U.S. military personnel and veterans while fostering dialogue on the U.S.–Japan security alliance.

Col. Jeff Kendrick, director of the Office of Global Education at Virginia Military Institute, announced the U.S. Department of State’s Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship is currently accepting applications

Lt. Col. Mark Boonshoft, associate professor and Conrad M. Hall ’65 Chair in American Constitutional History at VMI, has been named co-editor of the Journal of the Early Republic, the quarterly publication of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic (SHEAR).

Devin Auzenne ’26 knew the ethics and maturity needed for the U.S. Marine Corps would best be fostered in a place like Virginia Military Institute. He also knew by attending the Institute, he would be prepared to lead in the Marine Corps.

Five Virginia Military Institute cadets, with Dr. Sherif Abdelhamid, assistant professor in the Department of Computer and Information Sciences and outreach liaison officer for VMI’s Cyber Defense Laboratory, traveled to present research projects at the SoCon Undergraduate Research Forum in October.

Anna Grace Adams ’26, a history major minoring in Arabic at Virginia Military Institute, believes considering the points of view of peoples from different cultures is crucial when establishing policy or providing aid.

Patrick Kiernan ’25 explored the complexities of school desegregation in his honors thesis, focusing on key Supreme Court cases from the 1960s and 1970s. His research examined the challenges of enforcing desegregation post-Brown v. Board of Education, highlighting how the process was complicated.