LEXINGTON, Va., Dec. 18, 2017—Over 40 cadets will receive their diplomas and 11 will take the commissioning oath in ceremonies held Dec. 19 and 20 in Jackson Memorial Hall. 

The joint commissioning ceremony will be at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 19, in Jackson Memorial Hall where Brig. Gen. Lapthe Flora ’87 will speak.

Both ceremonies will be available for viewing in real time at vmi.edu/livestream.

Flora fled Vietnam in 1980 as a refugee and was adopted by a Roanoke couple a year later. After graduating from the Institute and commissioning into the Army Reserves, he was assigned to the 116^th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, the same unit his adopted father served in during World War II at Normandy. Flora currently serves as assistant adjutant general for the Virginia Army National Guard.

December graduation will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 20, in Jackson Memorial Hall. Tickets are not required to attend the ceremony.

Eugene Williams '74 will address the graduates. Williams played on the Keydet football team while at VMI and was the first African American to serve on the VMI Board of Visitors.

Williams is former director of engineering at Verizon, and he founded the VMI-hosted College Orientation Workshop in 1987 as a way to encourage minority students to attend college.

Parking for both events will be in parking lots and designated parking spots along streets on post. On the morning of Dec. 20, the area in front of Barracks will be closed to traffic until the conclusion of the commencement ceremony.  Vehicles will be allowed in that area afterwards to allow cadets to move their belongings out of Barracks.

For more information, visit the December Graduation webpage.

-Ashlie Walter

—VMI—