Modernizing a Legacy
Virginia Military Institute | 2006-2019
Director of Digital Strategy and Brand
One website trying to serve everyone — prospective students, current cadets, faculty, staff, and alumni — and not truly serving any of them. What replaced it was a three-platform ecosystem, purpose-built for distinct audiences, that compounded results over eleven years.
100%
Increase in applications
Over eleven years
43%
Increase in inquiries
From targeted recruitment campaigns
19%
Increase in female applications
Over five years
$150K
Annual cost reduction
Through in-house production transition
The challenge
VMI's digital presence had not kept pace with its institutional ambitions. A single website attempted to serve fundamentally different audiences. The architecture reflected internal structures, not user needs. Content was fragmented and outdated. And the platform itself was limiting.
The institution was simultaneously working to grow enrollment, modernize its public narrative, and support a more diverse Corps of Cadets.
VMI's existing website was more artifact than asset; outdated technology, fragmented content, and a structure that asked every audience to navigate the institution's internal org chart to find what they needed.
The solution
One website became three.
Instead of redesigning the single overloaded site, I replaced it with three purpose-built platforms, each designed around distinct user needs, behaviors, and goals rather than institutional structure.
Public storytelling & institutional narrative
For prospective students, media, donors, and the public
Internal tools & community resources
For current cadets, faculty, and staff
Recruitment experience for prospects & families
For prospective cadets and their families