Virginia Military Institute must pay more than $15,000 in legal fees to an alumnus-owned company that has sued the school over its procurement practices.
The case is still pending. But a judge in Rockbridge County Circuit Court ordered the state-run military college in October to pay a portion of the legal costs incurred by the Center for Applied Innovation, a consulting company owned by Robert Morris of Yorktown. The judge then reissued his order in December, after debate between the parties about the size of the payment.
Morris sued VMI in spring 2022, claiming that the school had violated procurement policy when it considered firms to provide diversity training on campus. Morris’ consulting firm had applied for the contract but did not make it to the final consideration round.
VMI argued to dismiss the case because while a winner was named, the contract in question was never actually awarded. But it also agreed not to pursue a new contract for diversity, equity and inclusion training until the case had concluded.
Morris, however, learned through Freedom of Information Act requests that VMI then asked the same company slated to receive the original contract to provide a proposal for similar services. The school specifically asked that the proposal cost no more than $10,000 — a threshold that would have required a formal process to request proposals from several firms before selecting one.
The judge said in an August hearing that he would dismiss the case because VMI never followed through with awarding the original contract. But he agreed that VMI should pay Morris’ legal fees for pursuing the smaller contract while the case was still open.
The anticipated dismissal is still pending. Contacted this week, Patrick Henry, attorney for the Center for Applied Innovation, declined to comment on the case.
Morris appeared on “Richmond’s Morning News with John Reid” on Jan. 24 to discuss the case. “The lawsuit was not to stop DEI at VMI,” Morris said. “It was because of contract improprieties.”
He added, “I fulfilled my moral obligation. … Other than the small sanction, I’ll never get all my money back on this.” He questioned how cadets at VMI can be held to high standards of honor and dignity if the institution itself isn’t held to the same standard.
Morris is also president and treasurer of the Cadet Foundation, the nonprofit organization that supports the independent student newspaper covering VMI. Morris’ case has been covered extensively in the newspaper, drawing skepticism from critics of the publication who believe Morris is behind many of the articles that are critical of VMI.
Morris’ firm also sued Virginia’s higher education council in 2021, claiming it had favored Barnes & Thornburg, the firm selected to conduct the investigation of the school ordered by Gov. Ralph Northam. CAI applied for the contract but claimed it was put at a disadvantage to compete for it. The lawsuit was dismissed.
