Leading the charge: This alumna reflects on her groundbreaking days at VMI

To say that U.S. Army Col. Angela Scott began her college career at Virginia Military Institute with lots of challenges is a major understatement. To begin, she was from Oklahoma — a state that sends relatively few new cadets to VMI. Plus, she was a woman who entered VMI’s first coeducational class without realizing it. The year was 1997. 

In those days before social media, Scott was uninformed about the context of coeducation at VMI. She had never heard of United States v. Virginia, the Supreme Court case that mandated that the institute admit women. All she knew was that she wanted to go into the military — and she wanted a challenge. 

“It was the words loyalty, duty, responsibility, respect that I wanted,” Scott, class of 2001, said. “I wanted to be a part of something greater than I was.”

When she began her VMI journey, she was navigating uncharted territory.

“I was very sheltered,” she said. “I had no idea what was going on in the outside world. I’m sure my parents did. But all I knew was VMI was a challenge. And it was hard. And it was on the other side of the world from Oklahoma.”  

Scott still remembers her first glimpse of VMI. “We visited the campus and I thought it was so beautiful.” 

Not surprisingly, Scott spent her first year in survival mode. But she didn't give up.

“There were some days that were terrible,” she said, “and that I did want to quit. But I was so stubborn. I was a stubborn, stubborn young lady. And I was proud and I had something to prove, not only to myself but to my community.” Some people back home, she explained, expected her to washout quickly. Instead, Scott adopted a mindset that proved crucial to her success: Everything awful was a chance to grow and learn. 

During her years at VMI, Scott excelled academically, graduating with distinction and earning a bachelor’s of science degree in chemistry in 2001. Scott commissioned into the Reserve Officer Training Corps as a chemical officer. She has been assigned to eight military installations, worked and advised in eight countries, and worked in positions from platoon all the way up to the Department of the Army. She has had two separate deployments to Operation Iraqi Freedom, with experience working with Joint and Multi-Component organizations.

“I’ve done just as many things as you can imagine,” she said. “I’ve advised on consequence management and defense port civil authorities missions around the world. I have worked at the Pentagon on force modernization and budgets. I’ve done a lot of things, and it’s just been an incredible experience.”

Now, more than two decades out from graduation, Scott is passionate about sharing the value of VMI with others. Scott came back to talk with VMI cadets and alumnae during the institute’s recent 25th anniversary Celebration of Women at VMI.

“I realized VMI was an incredible place,” she said. “It was an incredible opportunity. It really helped me become someone that I like to be. And so, it finally hit me one day that it was time to give back.”

Part of her giving back is advocacy — advocacy for the VMI system. “VMI brings to you challenge and adversity that you really need to get out of the way right now,” she said. “VMI helps you transition and bridge from a life at home into a real world that has a lot of adversity and challenge.” 

Scott is particularly interested in helping attract more women to VMI. “The world needs more women in the workforce everywhere we go,” she said. “I believe in VMI. I believe in the power of women. And I think those two should merge.”

For more information or to schedule a visit, call 540.464.7211 or visit vmi.edu.

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