News
![Ian Morris ‘19 (left) and Zach Thoele ‘19 adjust a coupling on a tanker truck during an evening shift at the South River Volunteer Fire Department.](/media/content-assets/images/news/2017-18/DSC_0067-1-400x266.jpg)
More than two dozen cadets are now members of the VMI Fire Club, and 20 are volunteering at local fire stations in Lexington and Rockbridge County.
![Professor of Modern Languages Maj. Abbey Carrico and Levi Harmon ’18 immerse local kids in French culture Feb 16 at the Discovery Heights Children’s Museum in Lexington.](/media/content-assets/images/news/2017-18/TourdeFrance2018KN071-1-400x266.jpg)
Maj. Abbey Carrico and three of her cadets recently hosted a children's introduction to French class at Lexington's Discovery Heights Children's Museum.
![Dr. Michael Seidman](/media/content-assets/images/news/2017-18/SeidmanWeb-1-400x266.jpg)
Dr. Michael Seidman, a history professor at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, will speak Thursday, March 8, at 8 p.m. in the Turman Room in Preston Library.
![Cadets compete in the Cyber Cup Competition during Cyber Fusion in Marshall Hall Feb. 24.—VMI Photo by H. Lockwood McLaughlin.](/media/content-assets/images/news/2017-18/Untitled-5-400x266.jpg)
Nearly 250 participants from colleges and universities across the state attended the second annual Cyber Fusion conference at the Center for Leadership and Ethics.
![](/media/content-assets/images/news/2017-18/hauerwass20030929-copy-400x266.jpg)
Dr. Stanley Hauerwas, prominent theologian and former professor at Duke University, will give a lecture Thursday, March 1, at 8 p.m. in Jackson Memorial Hall.
![A portrait of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.](/media/content-assets/images/news/2017-18/TillersonTN-400x267.jpg)
Former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will speak at graduation exercises for the Class of 2018, to be held May 16 in Cameron Hall.
![Marine Corps Command Sgt. Maj. William T. Sowers speaks to Marines with the 1st Combat Engineer Battalion at San Clemente Island, California, Dec. 9. —Department of Defense Photo by Lance Cpl. Rhita Daniel.](/media/content-assets/images/news/2017-18/Sowers-1-400x266.jpg)
Sgt. Maj. William T. Sowers, a 30-year veteran of the Marine Corps, has been named Institute and Corps Sergeant Major and will assume his new position this fall.
![A portrait of Col. James Hentz](/media/content-assets/images/news/2017-18/JimHentzOffice2016KN26-1-400x267.jpg)
Col. James J. Hentz, head of the Institute's Department of International Studies and Political Science, died Feb. 17 at the age of 62.
![A portrait of Lt. Col. John Hall.](/media/content-assets/images/news/2017-18/John-Hall[1]-1-400x266.jpg)
Lt. Col. John W. Hall, an early American historian who currently serves as historian for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will speak Feb. 15 at 8 p.m. in Gillis Theater in Marshall Hall.
![Rex Miller, left, and Sgt. Beth Hunt share a moment after their surgeries.](/media/content-assets/images/news/2017-18/After-Surgery-Web-1-400x266.jpg)
Beth Hunt, an investigator with the VMI Police Department, recently donated half of her liver. For Hunt, a native of Amherst who’s worked at VMI for six years, it was the fulfillment of a childhood dream.