the requirement that all cadets wishing to eat dinner in the mess hall must be present for a prayer was the basis for a lawsuit in 2002 when two cadets sued vmi over the prayer said before dinner. the non-denominational prayer had been a daily fixture since the 1950s. in 2002 the fourth circuit ruled the prayer, during an event with mandatory attendance, at a state-funded school, violated the u.s. constitution. when the supreme court declined to review the school's appeal in april 2004, the prayer tradition was stopped.