Manning ’25: The Value of VMI

Cadet James Manning ’25 has a photo of himself as a child with an older cousin, then a current cadet, wearing class dyke. In the photo, Manning is looking up at his cousin in awe—and now, the photo has proved to be prescient, as Manning is just weeks away from graduation with a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science and a cybersecurity minor. At graduation, he’ll commission into the U.S. Air Force, where he’s received a coveted pilot slot.

A third-generation legacy who is the son of James Manning ’90 and the grandson of the late Wymer Manning ’54, Manning knew from an early age that the Institute was for him. “I was really involved with VMI from an early age,” he explained. “I had a provisional appointment in my room from the moment I was born.” With all signs pointing toward Lexington, Manning only applied to VMI when the time came to choose a college.

Family and legacy proved to be Manning’s guide when faced with the daily challenges of the Rat Line. “There were a couple of moments where I definitely had to lean on [my legacy] a little bit heavier, specifically when I was walking along the bricks out in front of barracks,” he noted. “All of my family members have bricks out in front of barracks … I kind of memorized where their bricks were, so I would look down and see their names and say, ‘This is why I’m here.’”

Legacy, of course, is still but a starting point for a new cadet. Looking back, Manning can see what he terms “exponential” growth from his rat self to his current self. “You’re brought into VMI as this shaved head person,” he commented. “You’re a rat, and that breaks you down to the point where you really learn a lot about yourself. You learn your weaknesses as well as your strengths.”

Once the Rat Line ended, Manning set a goal for himself to earn academic stars—a goal he’s since achieved. “It’s definitely difficult, but the main skills that you have to learn are time management—learning those times that it’s quiet in your room, or it’s time to go to an academic building, it’s time to sit down and really put your nose to the work and figure something out,” he stated.

Most often, though, academic success isn’t just the result of endless hours spent studying alone. Support is critical, and Manning sees evidence of that support throughout VMI’s academic program. “The professors at VMI are here to help you,” he said. “They will sit down with you during office hours. They will stay after class. They will schedule times with you just to sit down and make sure you understand a topic, as well as group study sessions.”

And while Manning has been on the receiving end of support from professors, he’s also offered it himself as a peer tutor with the Miller Academic Center. “I was working with [the MAC] and earning money, but I was also helping my fellow cadets to learn and understand a subject that I may understand a little bit more,” he continued.

As a continuation of his academic interests, Manning is a member of the Cyber Club on post, and he’s also a cyber captain with VMI’s Cyber Defense Laboratory. Cyber captains serve for 10 hours a week during the academic year and 10–20 hours a week during the summer as teaching and technical assistants to help faculty, staff, and cadets on cybersecurity issues.

Manning has also availed himself of the many leadership opportunities available on post, serving as a corporal in his 3rd Class year and a platoon sergeant in his 2nd Class year. This year, he’s the Officer of the Guard Association secretary and therefore responsible for monitoring the rat/dyke system.

Reflecting on 4 years in barracks, Manning believes that everything he’s been involved with on post will add value to his future. “I feel like VMI prepares everyone for an opportunity outside of VMI in life,” he stated. “VMI is a system in which it breaks you down, but then it builds you up step by step, and it prepares you through leadership, through time management, through resource management, through friendships, through communication. All these different cornerstones of life are touched on at VMI, and for life after [the Institute], I feel that VMI touches every one of those things.”

Manning’s cadetship has also driven home the importance of the VMI Honor Code. “The value of the VMI degree is because of our Honor Code,” he said. “I have friends at other schools that may not have the same system that we do, and it honestly frustrates me at times to see them utilizing Chat GPT … or getting assignments from classmates. Things like that don’t happen at VMI. … Your degree is your degree. You earn that degree.”

Manning doesn’t have to look far to see the value of that degree—he’s been seeing it among his alumni family members his whole life. “If you do succeed at VMI, it will give you exponential opportunities after your graduation,” he said. “People will come to you and ask for interviews. People will just walk up to you and offer you a job. Not even knowing anything about you, people will come to you and say, ‘We want you,’ and that’s just the VMI diploma.”