VMI commandant staff member Dylan Kate found deceased; institute notifies next of kin and offers support to staff

Board leadership at the Virginia Military Institute informed members at the start of a special meeting that a commandant staff member, Dylan Kate, Class of 2010, was found unresponsive in an on-campus office and later pronounced deceased.

A general on the call said that staff discovered the individual in an adjoining office and that emergency medical personnel and police responded. “It was determined shortly thereafter, that the individual had had deceased,” the general said. The general said the individual appeared to have “expired… somewhere maybe around 03:00, 04:00 in the morning.”

The general identified the staff member as Dylan Kate, Class of 2010, and said he was a former Army enlisted service member who had been medically retired at the rank of E-7 and had recently been working on the commandant staff. The general said next-of-kin notification had been completed through the institute’s police department and that the spouse had been notified.

Institute leaders said they were arranging support for staff who discovered the scene, including mental-health services and chaplain assistance, and that senior leaders intended to reach out to the family to express condolences. “We have gone out of our way to make sure that any type of emotional distress or reaction by members of the staff who found [Mr. Kate] can be attended to either by mental health or the chaplain,” the general said.

No cause of death was announced during the meeting, and speakers described the timing of death as an estimate. The general said he would reach out to the family on behalf of the institute.

The board then proceeded to other agenda items. The institute and local authorities were the sources cited for notification and support actions; no additional personnel actions or investigations were described in the meeting record.