DeLaney Center to Host Third Annual Race and Southern-ness Symposium The Dec. 4 event will feature prominent military leaders and scholars conversing about how racial and regional identity impact service in the armed forces.

By Brian Laubscher
November 20, 2025

The DeLaney Center at Washington and Lee University will host its third annual Race and Southern-ness Symposium at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 4, in Stackhouse Theater, Elrod Commons. The event, featuring the theme “Race, Military Service and the Modern South,” is free and open to the public.

An event titled “At the Table” will serve as a precursor to the symposium and will be held from 5:30-6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 3 at Lylburn Downing Middle School. This informal and interactive conversation about issues related to Southern race relations, culture and politics will involve the audience in a moderated discussion with a panel of military veterans and their families from the local community. This event is also free for the general public and includes refreshments.

The Dec. 4 symposium will bring together a group of distinguished panelists from academic and military organizations. They include retired U.S. Army Major General and 15th superintendent of the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) Cedric T. Wins, Dr. Annette Tucker Osborne, former U.S. Army Colonel and president of the National Association of Black Military Women, and Dr. Robert F. Jefferson Jr., associate professor of history at the University of New Mexico.

“Just shy of our nation’s 250th birthday, this symposium focuses anew on what Black involvement in the country’s defense means,” said Michael Hill, director of the DeLaney Center and professor of Africana studies. “It textures such analysis by exploring Southern realities as a factor in military experiences. In light of recent, high-profile comments about armed forces’ readiness, this program addresses a timely and evocative subject. Doing so with superlative interlocutors like Wins, Osborne and Jefferson is a rare joy.”

During an hour-long panel, Wins, Tucker Osborne and Jefferson will address the symposium’s theme guided by their academic study of the U.S. armed forces or their direct affiliation with U.S. military organizations. A moderator will then lead the panelists in a conversation centered on the issues raised during their remarks. The event will conclude with an interactive question-and-answer session with the audience.

Wins served in the U.S. Army for 34 years after commissioning as a field artillery officer in 1985. He completed five deployments, was the last commander of the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM) and was the first commanding general of the Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM). Through his service, Wins was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit and the Bronze Star, among other commendations.

Wins retired from military service in 2019 and was appointed as superintendent at VMI in 2020. He was the institution’s first African American superintendent and served in that role until 2025.

A 1985 VMI graduate, Wins holds a bachelor’s degree in economics as well as master’s degrees in management from the Florida Institute of Technology and national security and strategic studies from the National War College.

Tucker Osborne devoted 29 years of service to the U.S. Army, commissioning as a second lieutenant and rising to the rank of colonel before retiring from active duty. Along the way, she served as an intensive care and trauma nurse, executive officer, chief nurse and senior nurse executive with the 8th Medical Brigade at Fort Wadsworth, New York. Her distinguished service includes deployment as Clinical Operations Chief Nurse during Operation Enduring Freedom in Kuwait, where she also taught medical personnel in Kazakhstan and Bahrain. Her military decorations include the Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal, Bronze Star and other commendations recognizing her outstanding service and leadership.

Following her military career, Tucker Osborne built an extensive record in healthcare leadership and regulatory affairs. She served as senior associate director at Harlem Hospital, director of clinical affairs for the New York City Health & Hospitals Corporation and branch chief for survey and certification with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Tucker Osborne holds a bachelor’s degree in health administration from Iona University, a master’s degree in health care administration from The New School for Social Research and a doctorate in health administration from Walden University. She currently serves on the dissertation committee for the Doctor of Healthcare Administration program at Central Michigan University and continues to work as a nurse consultant.

Jefferson has been a member of the University of New Mexico faculty since 2014 and has held faculty positions at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, Xavier University and the University of Iowa. His research focuses on African American history, 20th-century U.S. history, military history, international relations and race and disability studies. Jefferson is the author of “Fighting for Hope: African American Troops of the 93rd Infantry Division in World War II and Postwar America” (2008) and “Brothers in Valor: The Battlefield Stories of the 89 African Americans Awarded the Medal of Honor” (2018). He also served as editor of “Black Veterans, Politics and Civil Rights in Twentieth Century America: Closing Ranks” (2019).

Jefferson was a Fulbright Scholar during the 2019-20 academic year, serving as the Distinguished Chair of American Studies at the University of Southern Denmark at Odense. He also served as a history and public policy fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. during the 2023-24 school year.

Jefferson earned an associate degree in pre-journalism from Chowan College, a bachelor’s degree in political science from Elon University, a master’s degree in history from Old Dominion University and a Ph.D. in history from the University of Michigan.

The DeLaney Center is an interdisciplinary academic forum that promotes teaching and research on race and Southern identity. Visit the DeLaney Center website for updates on additional programming, such as the Screen to Square film series and the DeLaney Dialogues.