VMI no longer names expelled cadets during ‘drum out’ ritual

LEXINGTON, Va. — The Virginia Military Institute has altered its ritual of expelling cadets by waking them up in the middle of the night to the sound of beating drums.

The Washington Post reported Tuesday that the school is no longer announcing the expelled students’ names during the so-called “drum outs.”

The practice involves waking up the entire corps of cadets. The change to the ritual is being made amid a state-ordered investigation into racism on the campus of the school in Lexington.

The Post reported in December that Black students were being disproportionately expelled and shamed by name in drum-out ceremonies.

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