About SMI

Our strengths set us apart from any other military college today.

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With a belief in the proven validity of single sex education, SMI is an all-male institution.  It takes its place with only two all-male colleges remaining in the United States, and it will be the only remaining all-male four-year military college. 

Our Mission


The mission of the Southern Military Institute is to train young men to be strong moral leaders who are devoted to God, dedicated to constitutional government, educated in the modern sciences, and who are able to serve their church, community, or State in civilian roles during peacetime or in military roles during times of war.

Accreditation


SMI is not an accredited institution. A plan is being developed to achieve accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). SMI estimates that accreditation can be achieved within three years of opening the Institute.

The concept of an officer and a Southern gentleman will be the standard, not the exception.  Honesty, integrity, courtesy, and respect for all men and women regardless of race, position, or economic standing will be taught and required.  SMI cadets will be taught the strong points and the weak points of Southern history. At SMI these values will to be shared by all cadets without exception.

Our Purpose


  • To establish and operate a Christian institution of higher education having no denominational ties;
  • To provide young men with a firm foundation in the fundamentals of the Christian faith;
  • To provide a unique all-male educational environment to male citizens of the United States;
  • To preserve a traditional gentleman-officer training program within the United States in a private institution having no commissioning authority for officers of any State or the United States;
  • To increase public awareness of the value of traditional single-sex training programs and methods of higher education;
  • To provide and sponsor programs that advance the knowledge and awareness of Southern history and culture;
  • To develop and provide innovative programs to enable qualified male students to complete academic degrees in selected areas of engineering and science.

Expenses


Total expenses for the Institute are projected to be $5-10 million for the first year, increasing to $17 million in the fourth and fifth years. A major goal will be to minimize tuition and fees and maximize faculty salaries by eliminating unnecessary programs and activities. SMI is now initiating a major fund raising campaign and has recently been approved for 501(C)(3) (tax-exempt) status. Donations are now fully tax deductible and should be sent to the address on our Contact *link to contact page and checks should be payable to: Southern Military Institute.

Southern traditions that have been lost and tarnished live on through SMI

In the tradition of the original "Institute," SMI will be a small engineering and science institution emphasizing the foundations of Christian faith and morality. It will also provide a sound background in the history of Western Civilization, American politics, Constitutional studies, and military history. SMI will be steeped in southern tradition and will re-establish the all-male Corps of Cadets, the Gentleman's Honour System, the "Brother-Rat" Class System, and the traditional "Ratline" basic training system. SMI will sponsor programs that advance the knowledge and awareness of Southern history and culture including the honouring of Confederate Memorial Day and New Market Day, which celebrates the valor of the VMI cadets at the Battle of New Market, Virginia on the 15th of May, 1864.

SMI is to be modeled after VMI, but it will also seek to preserve elements of the traditions that once were part of her southern sister, The Citadel, as well as some of those of the old West Point. The Institute will be unique among colleges and universities, not only in its military and southern traditions, but in the fact that it will be a small Christian engineering and science college, and one of only two all-male colleges remaining within the United States.