Dear VMI Alumni, Family, and Friends,
Thank you for your support for VMI in Richmond! We are hearing great feedback based on your efforts.
Your phone calls and emails have been vital. To build on your virtual communications, we are designating two days in Richmond to represent VMI.
VMI Day 1 | Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026 | 8 a.m.–12 p.m.
VMI Day 2 | Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026 | 8 a.m.–12 p.m.
Our approach remains the same: Share your VMI story and the Institute’s value with the Commonwealth and suggest your representatives visit post to experience VMI for themselves.
For clarification regarding the superintendent’s recent statement about HB1377, we support an improved version of the legislation, yet we feel strongly that portions of the HB1377 preamble do not reflect what is happening at VMI.
To learn more about VMI Days in Richmond, visit the VMI mobilization plan here. Below is a statement from Lt. Gen. David Furness ’87, VMI’s 16th superintendent.
In the Bonds,
Brandon Bissell ’98
Chief Operating Officer
VMI Alumni Association
Mobilization Toolkit: VMI Days in Richmond
Statement from Lt. Gen. David Furness ’87
VMI’s 16th Superintendent
Feb. 6, 2026
As we walk through the progress of current legislation, the single most important way to support VMI in Richmond is to blanket the Capitol with the VMI story. Your stories as former cadets, parents of cadets, and supporters of VMI are very compelling. In the past 2 weeks, your emails, phone calls, and visits have made a difference. Even amid full legislative calendars, lawmakers and their staffs are receptive to learning more about VMI and its contribution to the Commonwealth and our nation.
Our objective is to build informed advocates of the Institute.
This is a time for measured communications: How we present ourselves is how people see us. Please don’t go in person unless you are laser-focused on being the kind of leader, parent, and friend we profess to be—calm in the face of the storm, respectful of all opinions, but clear about your message.
My recent statement regarding HB1377 can be found here, but to be clear, portions of the preamble do not represent VMI now, nor will they represent VMI in the future. I stand strong in my position. With the hard work of our friends in the legislature and the removal of content from HB1377 that initially called for the defunding of VMI, I now support the legislation. In doing so, I will embrace the opportunity to once again tell the VMI story.
I ask you to join me in this important quest. Your time with legislators and their staff should be focused on what brings you there—why you love VMI, why you stand with VMI, and why VMI has changed your life or the lives of those around you. Talking about the house bills is less important; talking about VMI and its outstanding graduate outcomes is our focus.
We love VMI. VMI produces leaders of character—let them see it.
Respectfully,
David J. Furness ’87
Lieutenant General, USMC (retired)
16th Superintendent of Virginia Military Institute
