Critics are denouncing Democrats in Virginia’s House of Delegates who have introduced a resolution that would establish a task force to probe the iconic Virginia Military Institute (VMI) and determine if the military college should continue to receive funding.

Founded in 1839, and a school that has produced more military generals than any college military program in the U.S., VMI is the oldest state supported military college in the nation.

But support by the Commonwealth of Virginia may now be in jeopardy, not only by a the task force but also by a bill recently introduced in its legislature to put the academy under the control of Virginia State University.

Fox News Digital reported that the move is the “latest of Virginia Democrats’ efforts to reinvigorate Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policy” in the state since such mandates were revoked when President Donald Trump returned to the presidency in 2025.

“This takes away from VMI, takes away from its mission,” Rep. Rob Wittman (VA-R) told the news outlet. “I think that it’s harmful to the Commonwealth of Virginia, harmful to VMI as an institution, harmful to all the incredible military leaders and community leaders that have come out of VMI.”

“It’s just reprehensible that they would even go down this road,” Wittman added. “But, it seems to be what’s happening in Richmond.”

Wittman serves on the House Armed Services Committee. He attended Virginia Tech University and was a member of the core of cadets, which he told the outlet had a friendly rivalry with VMI.

VMI’s notable attendees include two previous governors of Virginia and a host of U.S. military notables, including Medal of Honor recipients and World War II’s George C. Patton and George C. Marshall, whose effort to rebuild Europe after the war earned him the Nobel Peace Prize.

Attendees are not limited entirely to military luminaries. Comedian Mel Brooks and character actors Fred Willard and Dabney Coleman also attended there.

Current alumni include sitting Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz, and Lt. Gen. John “Dan” Caine, Trump’s Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Wittman was not alone in warning Virginia Democrats may be planning VMI’s demise.

Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX), who also serves on the House Armed Services Committee, told Fox Digital that newly elected Gov. Abigail Spanberger (D) was behind the effort.

“Less than a month in office as governor of Virginia, Abigail Spanberger has shown a commitment to turning the commonwealth into California,” Fallon told the online outlet. “The left’s renewed focus on VMI is not intended to benefit our military.”

Spanberger would not be the first governor to scrutinize the academy. In 2021, then-Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam ordered an investigation into VMI’s DEI structure, specifically looking for racism and sexism.

One of Spanberger’s first acts as governor was appointing Northam to VMI’s Board of Visitors, according to Fox.

“He has no business overseeing VMI,” Fallon said. “And leftists like Spanberger can’t help themselves from advancing their radical, far-left agenda.”

Spanberger, who ran as a moderate, has not been shy about implementing what her critics have called radical leftwing policies in her short time in office. That includes an executive order dictating that local and state law enforcement are no longer required to assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in enforcing federal immigration laws.

Even moderates and centrists appeared alarmed at the VMI resolution.

On Saturday, Constitutional scholar Jonathon Turley, who has spoken at VMI, took to X to warn the famous academy was in jeopardy as part of a “radical agenda” and “DEI policies.”

Moderate Republican Meghan McCain, daughter of late Sen. John McCain, blasted the new governor in an X post earlier this week.

“Screw any and all of you who lied to low-information voters and sold Abigail Spanberger as some kind of moderate,” she wrote. “She’s been in office like 6 hours and is already trying to turn Virginia into Minneapolis.”

Contributor Lowell Cauffiel is the author of the New York Times true crime best seller House of Secrets and nine other crime novels and nonfiction titles. See lowellcauffiel.com for more.