RICHMOND, Va. — Retired Army Maj. Gen. Cedric T. Wins will step down in June from his post as the first Black superintendent of the Virginia Military Institute after the school’s board voted on Friday against extending his contract.

In a 10-6 vote, the school’s Board of Visitors, an advisory group appointed by the governor, opted out of extending Wins’ contract after meeting in a closed session shielded from the public.

The ouster of Wins, a 1985 alumnus who served more than three decades in the Army, comes in the wake of increased diversity efforts at the school in recent years after a damning report from the state - but also pushback against those efforts by some conservative alumni.

“The BOV is supremely grateful to Major General Wins for his service to the Institute during some very difficult times,” board President John Adams said Friday. “The foundation he has provided us will ensure VMI continues to fulfill its vital mission of educating future leaders.”

VMI had a racial reckoning of sorts in 2021 with the release of the state-sanctioned report, which said VMI tolerated and failed to address institutional racism and sexism and must be held accountable for making changes.

The report found that “racial slurs and jokes are not uncommon” and “contribute to an atmosphere of hostility toward minorities.” There was an ”outdated” reverence for the Civil War and Confederacy. And a racial disparity existed among cadets who’d been dismissed by the student-run honor court. Sexual assault was also prevalent yet inadequately addressed.

“Although VMI has no explicitly racist or sexist policies that it enforces, the facts reflect an overall racist and sexist culture,” the report stated.