VMI BOV Nominations

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:

Copies of all nominations to the Virginia Military Institute Board of Visitors (BOV) submitted by the Virginia Military Institute Alumni Association and/or Agencies for the period 2019 to the date of this request with any associated records submitted with them. In accordance with Code of Virginia, Chapter 25, Code of Virginia
§ 23.1-2501. Membership, para B. "The alumni association of the Institute may submit to the Governor a list of not more than three nominees for each vacancy on the board, whether the vacancy occurs by expiration of a term or otherwise. The Governor may appoint a member from the list of nominees." No Virginia State College or University has this in their applicable section of the statute to my knowledge and this makes the submission a matter of public record as it is made subject to the statute. Further according to the Virginia Military Institute Alumni Association by-laws membership in the Association is defined in the Articles of incorporation. The Articles of incorporation (as approved by the State Corporation Commission) remains true to the founding membership criteria from the Association's founding in 1842. The current Articles state, "Each graduate of VMI is entitled to become an Active Member on the date of his or her graduation. Each matriculant of VMI who was in good standing on the date of his or her departure therefrom is entitled to become an Active Member on the date of graduation of his or her Brother Rat Class; provided, however, in no event will an individual become an Active Member while still a member of the Corps of Cadets. The Active Members shall be those members who are registered on the records of the Corporation." In response to a recent cvil case the Association released a members list containg the name and addresses of over 18,000 living members. Periodically the Association publishes a public document entitled, "The registry of former cadets for the Virginia Military Institute". That document is available for purchase from the Association and also used and other booksellers, ebay, etc. The registry contains the names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and other information on all members. It is also available in libraries such as the Library of Virginia. The majority of BOV Nominees from the Association are VMI alumni who have no expectation of privacy as the result of meing selected by the Association with just a broad membership. In addition, all nominees regardless if they are alumni are not are coordinated with and approved by the VMI Superintendent, a state employee, according to the former Chair of the Association Nominating Committee. In addition, the VMI superintendent presents the list to the Governor himself and at that point it becomes a public record. As a result they have no expectation of privacy and the members, as well as the general public have a right to know the nominees and associated submission once it becomes a public record after filing with the Virginia Secretary of State to be considered by the governor for selection. While any records associated with the Governor's consideration of the nominees and decisions MAY be covered under a FOIA exemption, I am not asking for those records but rather ONLY the nominees as submitted by the Alumni Association/Agencies with any accompanying documentation submitted with them.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 5 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Tom Nash, a citizen of Virginia, in coordination with Anonymous.

Hello,

Please see attached. Thank you for your help with this request.