Fostering Strong Leadership Skills and Character Development
VMI’s Center for Leadership and Ethics (CLE) is dedicated to educating, engaging, and inspiring cadets, faculty, and staff in the development of leadership and character. Our mission is to share the insights and knowledge gleaned from our programs with a wider national audience. We offer programming in three lines of effort: Cadet Programs, Leader Development, and Strategic Engagement. These categories provide opportunities to develop new skills and enhance leadership learning, empowering leaders to think critically, solve problems, and make ethical decisions.
2025-26 Annual Leadership Theme: American Values
The Center for Leadership and Ethics’ programming will join the Commonwealth of Virginia in celebrating the events leading up to the United States鈥� 250th anniversary of its independence. Highlighting the character of our Founders, the Center鈥檚 annual theme will focus on 鈥淎merican Values.鈥� Throughout the year, programming will reinforce the shared democratic core values, stressing honor, service to country, and integrity.
Our strategic outreach efforts include conferences, speaker events, civil discourse programs, the VMI Leader Journey podcast, and social media, utilizing the hashtag #AmericanValues. The annual Leadership and Ethics Conference, to be held from October 27聽to 28, will focus specifically on 鈥淟eading with Integrity,鈥� grounded in the principles of ethical leadership.
Related Content
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Past Leadership Themes:
- Paradigm Shifts
- Adapting to Complex Situations
- The Courage of Convictions
- Citizen Leaders
- Leadership in a Fractured World
- Courageous Leadership
The VMI Leader Journey Pamphlet
The 鈥淰MI Leader Journey鈥� pamphlet describes how the Institute turns leadership theory into practice through a systematic approach over a four-year cadetship experience of whole-person development. it provides an easy-to-share reference guide of VMI’s academic, athletic, and military environment programming, along with the single-sanction Honor system as its seat of character development.
The pamphlet was developed over four years and 15 drafts with input from VMI administration, faculty, staff, cadets, board of visitors, and alumni. It includes an overview of the Institute’s mission and philosophy, as well as a discussion of the theoretical basis for training cadets into adaptable, authentic leaders. Finally, the pamphlet discusses the specifics of the integration of curricular, co-curricular, and experiential learning opportunities essential for instilling character and core leader behaviors.
Key Resources from the CLE
Questions? We’re Here to Help
Connect with the Center
Email: lawhornesk@vmi.edu
Phone: (540) 464-7396
Center for Leadership and Ethics
Marshall Hall, 500 Anderson Drive