We got an inside look at what it's like during the first week for new freshmen, known as "rats," at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia. "Hell week" marks the beginning of the rats' ...

LEXINGTON, Va. – At VMI, strength comes in the form of mental and physical fortitude. The Rat Challenge is a program designed to test both. “Not even physical obstacles, it’s the mental obstacles. You ...

It was dinner time at the Virginia Military Institute, and the rats were ready to eat. Chins jammed into their necks, backs straight, heads shaved, faces contorted into painful grimaces, the freshmen ...

Cadet Utz, carrying a clipboard and pacing smartly, was quick to notice two “rats” of Charlie Company as they glanced at each other. “You don’t look around unless I tell you to look around!” Utz’s ...

The Silver Shako has more than one place of pride on the VMI campus. During the week, the trophy resides at Lejeune Hall, which serves as the visitors center, post exchange and campus bookstore.

VIRGINIA BEACH - The Virginia Military Institute recruiter unfolded this fall's list of applicants, hoping to coax another high school student to follow their path. It ran two pages long and impressed ...

Staring into gray skies and stark fear, 30 young women were verbally taunted Wednesday afternoon– and thus made military history. “Rats, look at the men who stand before you. . . . They will teach and ...

Colleen Redmond's right bicep is bruised, her knees are nicked and red. She blinks away tears as she speaks about what she's been through. Like all first-year cadets at the Virginia Military Institute ...

Jason Randolph Williams told his family and friends that being a rat was one of the hardest things he’d ever done, but he wouldn’t have traded it for anything in the world. The history major and Toano ...