Mayling Elizabeth Simpson

“Higher education has never been terrifically good at measuring its impact,” stated Inside Higher Ed. Yet, Dr. Mayling Simpson shows the lifetime impact of the Virginia Military Institute in Lives Guided by Honor: How VMI Shaped the Class of 1968. Dr. Simpson sought to do a critical study of VMI and not a promotion of it. The book includes a tough look at its academics, adversative character development, history, culture, and VMI during the turbulent 1960s. The study led Dr. Simpson to conclude, “What I think makes VMI unique is its strong emphasis on honor, discipline, and brotherhood, a combination not necessarily found in other colleges.” This finding and others were based on data—and therein lies the book’s great value.

 

In 2018, Dr. Simpson initiated a survey of the surviving members of VMI’s Class of 1968, with 121 or 44 percent responding. The findings are significant. Overwhelmingly, the Class of 1968 respondents reported that their lives were profoundly influenced by VMI’s Honor Code: “A cadet will not lie, cheat, or steal or tolerate those who do.” Respondents attributed their adherence to the Code, to the “single- sanction.” Violation means dismissal, with no second chances. For cadets coming from a world where the meaning of honor has varied, the single sanction enabled a realization that “there is only one kind of honor,” said one class member.

 

Research has also shown that cheating is a slippery slope. “Once people behave dishonestly, they are able to morally disengage, setting off a downward spiral of future bad behavior and ever more lenient moral codes,” concluded the study, “Dishonest Deed, Clear Conscience: When Cheating Leads to Moral Disengagement and Motivated Forgetting.”

 

By comparison, Class of 1968 respondents showed an evolution in moral reasoning that went beyond concerns over personal consequences. Those experiencing combat—over half the Class of ’68— saw honesty as a matter of life and death. Many echoed, “honor above self.” One respondent said, “Live the VMI Honor Code. You may not be popular with all people, but you will be respected by those who matter.” And “Without integrity, personal relationships fail, families fail, businesses fail, governments can fail, societies can fail,” said another respondent. Their words are indicative of Cicero’s: “Within the character of the citizen lies the welfare of the nation.”

 

Of equally great importance, the Class 1968 imparts wisdom for the VMI community to live by—which very much deserves reading from this graduate’s perspective. Some universities assess graduates’ endeavors—and Dr. Simpson’s findings address such metrics. Over 80 percent of respondents earned advanced degrees, including ones in law, medicine, and dentistry. An astonishing 98 percent said they were happy with their chosen professions, and nearly all said that VMI had prepared them for these professions.

 

Dr. Simpson does not hide the bad. Some respondents reported personal failures, which they attributed to straying from their values. Dr. Simpson also addresses the sufferings and misfortunes that the Class of ’68 experienced—and that no one escapes.

 

While Dr. Simpson did not write a promotional book about VMI, from her writings emerged an admiration and tough love for it. Moreover, Dr. Simpson has done what few—if any— have done— provided a data-based approach for showing higher education’s influence over a fifty- year lifetime, in this case, VMI’s Class of 1968. Dr. Simpson’s methodology is one that VMI and other institutions should adopt, refine, and continually use to show evidence of higher education’s value over their graduates’ lifetimes.

The work provides a historical account of the foundation of Virginia Military Institute (VMI) and how the times over the last nearly 200 years shaped the school that was founded and evolved in the valley of western Virginia. Over 100 members of the class of 1968 responded to a forty-question survey and provided detailed interviews and the author highlights, in depth, several of its members that accomplished great things in their lives. These stories provide a look into the life of a military college experience during the United States involvement in Vietnam.

 

Looking at VMI through several different lenses, the author, an anthropologist, a 1960’s college student, and a wife of over 50 years, details the stories and remembrances of people from a United States, VMI and world that are very different than today. Well researched, detailed bibliography, and numerous endnotes add to this history and story of 368 men and the shaping of their lives and the honor they live.

 

The members of the class of 1968 that provided stories for the book have vivid recollections of the events that shaped their cadetship and their lives. VMI alumni from all generations have these tales. Each person’s experience is their own and they share it with their Brother Rats. Each class has different experiences, this book highlights one. That said, the common themes, Regimental System, Class System, including Rat Line and the Honor System bind all VMI alumni together, across generations.

 

At the foundation of this work is the detailed, forty-question, survey conducted by the author, answered by 121 of the class of 1968. The unattributed quotes from this are very sage words that resonate across generations. The in-depth look at a few members of the class of 1968 provides nothing held back, detail of their lives, from the early life, their VMI experience, and their life after. The author describes many details and how they responded or participated in these events. Multiple chapters outline the class of 1968 members feelings on a large array of topics, “A Theme of Honor Through Life” is particularly noteworthy. The author categorizes these thoughts through different facets of their life and careers, marriage, family, and the military, 90 percent of the class of 1968 served. The Honor System is the key part of the VMI experience that is the glue that holds the rest together, a cadet does not lie, cheat, steal or tolerate those that do. This is not negotiable and is expected of VMI alumni.

 

The final chapter of the book is a transcript of the fiftieth reunion speech by the VMI Superintendent (College President), it is a very detailed summary of the class of 1968’s time at VMI with all the key events described, what was going on in at VMI and the world. His remarks go further and highlight the changes that occurred in the fifty intervening years, a fitting end to this work.

 

One thing that I feel needs a better description is the Class System. The author does a good job of describing the Rat Line, but that is only a part of the Class System. The Rat Line experience is what tears down the individual and builds the group as a class. The Class System is a very big part of the VMI experience, your relationship with your Brother Rats is lifelong. Additionally, the author describes Military Training and Discipline System separately, I would argue that the Regimental System includes these components. The Honor System, the Class System and Regimental System cover every day life at VMI.

 

This work provides many examples that VMI is not for everyone. Each class has a broad spectrum of individuals that will be molded into the men and women they will become. They will be the next generation of leaders, entrepreneurs, athletes, husbands and wives. This book is for those that are considering taking the road less traveled and partaking in a unique college experience. I completely agree with the statement of one of the class of 1968, VMI now is much harder than the one he attended due to the extreme difference in society today. I couldn’t agree more.

Mayling Simpson's Lives Guided by Honor - How VMI Shaped the Class of 1968 gives the reader a history of this illustrious institution from its founding to the present. But there is a lot more.

 

While the book's central focus is on the lives of those who graduated from VMI in 1968, what stood out to me was her passionate and personal connection to VMI and its history. With this story, she connects the transition of VMI to our nation's transition from a slave-holding society to one where racial and women's equality have become our cultural challenge.

 

As someone with very little connection with the State of Virginia, Mayling's slice of American history held my interest. The Civil War, the Lost Cause, and the battle for equality for all are front and center.

 

This book should be of interest to all who have a love of country and continue to try and understand its complex history.