Bob Morris, a Virginia Military Institute alumni activist, has filed suit in York County Circuit Court against VMI alleging the withholding, redacting, and even altering public records. Here follows a Chat GPT summary based upon a media backgrounder provided by The Cadet, a VMI student newspaper with which Morris is closely affiliated. — JAB

Core allegations

The lawsuit alleges that VMI officials and members of its Board of Visitors:

• Conducted public business through “reply-all” emails and text-message chains that effectively functioned as secret meetings, in violation of Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
• Withheld, redacted, or failed to produce public records related to controversial governance decisions at VMI.
• Failed to produce records from board member Donald Hall, who allegedly described himself as the “principal negotiator” with state officials regarding VMI matters.
• Withheld records involving former Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, call logs, voicemails, and certain email metadata.
• Altered a public-records portal entry to conceal the involvement of VMI’s FOIA officer in creating a records request for an outside journalist.

Governance controversy

The filing connects these allegations to the departures of:

• Former Board of Visitors member Thomas ‘Teddy’ Gottwald
• Former board president James P. Inman

The backgrounder argues that the circumstances surrounding those departures raise questions about who is influencing VMI governance and whether those decisions were made outside public view.

Additional issues raised

The petition reportedly seeks records concerning:

• A 1996 study regarding possible privatization of VMI.
• An Inspector General report concerning efforts by VMI officials to control, close, or discredit The Cadet, the institute’s long-running independent student newspaper.

The suit also alleges that a process server attempting to deliver written comments for board consideration was improperly denied access to public board meetings.

Broader political context

The document places the dispute within a larger debate over political influence on Virginia university governing boards. It references controversies involving Governor Abigail Spanberger and changes at the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors, while noting that the petition itself focuses primarily on alleged involvement by former Governor Northam rather than the current governor.

What the lawsuit seeks

The petitioner requests:

• Release of allegedly withheld records.
• A court declaration that the alleged electronic meetings violated FOIA.
• Civil penalties against the named officials.
• Penalties for alleged alteration of public records.
• Attorney’s fees.
• An injunction requiring board members to conduct official business on official accounts and devices rather than personal phones and email.

Important caveat

The document itself emphasizes that these are allegations contained in a verified court petition, not findings of fact. The claims have not yet been adjudicated, and the backgrounder encourages reporters to independently verify the allegations and sources.