Southern Military Institute

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The Southern Military Institute is a proposed all-male Christian military academy. It has been proposed in response to the 1997 Supreme Court decision allowing women into the government-funded Virginia Military Institute (VMI) and The Citadel. The proponents wish to create an environment similar to that of VMI in the 19th century. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has labeled it a neoconfederate group. Its head is COL Dr. Michael J. Guthrie of Madison, Alabama, a research physicist and National Guard Officer. Guthrie has been criticized by the national media and the SPLC for being a former member of the League of the South and for having promoted the school at a convention of the Council of Conservative Citizens.

It was once planned to be built in Shelbyville, Tennessee, but the proponents were not able to raise sufficient funds to purchase the property. Subsequently the group sought to purchase the old Franklin County High School (FCHS) in Middle Tennessee Winchester, Tennessee, but that effort was ended July 2006. SMI is currently exploring the possibility of acquiring the old Tennessee Military Institute (TMI) property in Sweetwater, Tennessee and other opportunities in Franklin County, Tennessee. As of December 2006 no property has been acquired for the campus, though fundraising and planning continues.