Class of ‘70, VMI

From VMI Communications and Marketing:

Cadets at Virginia Military Institute will honor Gov. Timothy Kaine Thursday, Jan.  14, when he visits the Institute in the final days of his term, and they will march in the inaugural parade of Gov.-elect Bob McDonnell on the first day of his term on Saturday, Jan. 16.

“As the Commander-in-Chief of the Corps of Cadets, the Governor of Virginia has a special relationship with VMI,” said Gen. J.H. Binford Peay III, VMI’s superintendent.  “For us to be able to honor two governors within one week is unique and satisfying.” Gov. Kaine is scheduled to attend a ceremony at VMI at 4 p.m. on Jan. 14.  If conditions are favorable, the Corps of Cadets will march in review for the governor on the Institute’s Parade Ground. If conditions are not favorable, a ceremony will be held in Jackson Memorial Hall. (Note:  Parade cancelled — ‘unsuitable conditions’)

On Jan. 16, the Corps of Cadets will travel to Richmond to participate in the inaugural parade for Gov.-elect McDonnell.  The parade, which begins at about 12:45 p.m. following the swearing-in ceremony, passes in front of reviewing stands at the State Capitol Building.  Viewing of the parade is available along its entire length.  The parade route is along Grace Street between 5th and 9th Streets and then enters Capitol Square.

Webmaster’s Note: I’ll admit it has been a few semesters, but I remember starting up around Belvidere St. in that park — quite a bit further. Fifth to Ninth is only four blocks — march in battalion and you’ll cover half the route!

I opened the Dayton Daily News yesterday and suddenly there was an article from the Associated Press that was plastered across page 10 (with a picture, no less) about the investigation at school (see my earlier post).  Quite strange to see anything about VMI out this way.  Here’s the same article posted in the Air Force Times in case you all didn’t get to see it.  The one in the AF Times is less edited than most of the others I found.  Interesting point is that the investigation is into its eighteenth month when they usually last about six.  The Washington Times added that the copy of the complaint given to the AP was heavily redacted to not reveal the list of specific policies under investigation as well as any information about the complainant.

Below is from VMI Communications and Marketing that was posted yesterday.

From multiple news sources:

Nov. 7, 2009 – A Rat collapsed following a training event and was pronounced dead shortly after noon today at Carilion Stonewall Jackson Hospital.

John Alexander Evans, 19, of Highland, Md., collapsed in his Barracks room after completing a 10-mile road march with other members of the Rat Class. Cadet Evans was an International Studies major and a member of the Marine ROTC program.

The cause of death will be determined by a medical examiner.

There is a follow up video from WSLS, Roanoke about the march, with the link here.

Update, 11 November:  Gen Peay posted a statement on Cadet Evans on the VMI Communications web page.   Follow this link to the statement.

In case you didn’t get the notice about it, there is an interesting article in the Washington Post about the Institute including  a video interview with Gen Peay.  Click on this link to check it out.

VMI cadets have developed an underground transmitter and portable topside receiver that will allow trapped miners to communicate with those above ground. Another group of cadets is working to commercialize this life-saving device.

There will be an interview about this project on all public radio stations in Virginia during the week of 31 October — 6 November.

See the article on the VMI web site here for times and stations.

The October issue of the Institute Report is now available for download. In this issue you will find:

– Measures to strengthen the academic program;

– With a economy just beginning to recover, fund raising gains are hard won;

– Cadets spent their summer studying bats;

– The VMI Archives reach the world; and,

– Cadets took time on Constitution Day to reaffirm their commitment to that document.

Click here to view the current issue of the Institute Report. 

If you would like to receive email notification hen the Institute Report is published on line, go to http://www1.vmi.edu/subscribe/ and fill out the form.

From VMI Communications and Marketing:

The VMI Foundation and the VMI Keydet Club announced that the number of alumni who made a gift to VMI increased 11.7 percent for the fiscal year that ended June 30 as compared to the previous fiscal year.  Last year, 4,524 alumni made a gift to VMI; this year, 528 more alumni joined the ranks of those who support VMI, boosting the number over 5,000 to 5,052.

This increase also means that the percentage of alumni who supported VMI also increased. Last year, the 4,524 alumni donors represented 35.34 percent of all alumni; the 5,052 alumni donors in the just-ended budget year represented 38.82 percent of all alumni.

Of special note within the participation figures is a 67-percent increase in alumni donors to the Keydet Club. Spurred by its “75th Anniversary Challenge,” in which alumni and friends were asked to donate $75 in support of VMI athletics in recognition of the 75th anniversary of the Keydet Club’s founding, 3,135 participants made gifts to the Keydet Club Scholarship Fund and the Athletic Operations Fund during the year. Of these participants, 1,925 were new donors who were not members of the Keydet Club last fiscal year; they accounted for more than $344,000 of new gifts.

Read the rest of the article here.

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Gov. Timothy M. Kaine appointed two new members and reappointed two serving members to the VMI Board of Visitors.

New members are Gen. John P. Jumper, retired Chief of Staff of the Air Force and resident of Burke, Va., and Kimber L. Latsha, a founding principal of Latsha, Davis, Yohe & McKenna, P.C., a law firm headquartered in Mechanicsburg, Pa. Reappointed to the board were Elizabeth Lee Camp of Richmond and Marshall Mundy of Roanoke.

See the VMI News Web site for full article.

Article about Army Gen. David H. Petraeus’ commencement address on the VMI website here.

Remember the days when all we heard was “poor VMI — they are out of their league,” and similar comments.  Check out Mike Miller’s article on MSNBC, Big Dance Could’ve Used High-Scoring VMI.  It’s quite a different outlook. Good read….

Band Heads For Mardi Gras in Mobile

The VMI Regimental Band and Pipe Band will march and perform in concert Feb. 21-24 at the Mardi Gras in Mobile. Mention Mardi Gras and most people think New Orleans and its famed French Quarter. However, Mobile’s Mardi Gras is the older of the two celebrations, dating all the way back to 1704 when the future Alabama port city was a colony of French soldiers.

The Regimental Band will be in action the culminating Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, when the cadets will march in four parades and participate in the Patriotic Opener Concert at the Civic Center. Finally, on Fat Tuesday (Feb. 24), the Band will be a featured unit in one of the biggest of the parades at noon. before returning to Lexington later that afternoon.

Read more at the VMI Communications site.

It has been said the getting on the Sports Illustrated cover is a kiss of death.  But they don’t say the same about an article or two.  Check out the article on line from the 9 February issue.  It’s a good read.  Opening line says “To appreciate the small miracle of Virginia Military Institute basketball, you must go to the Hill at dawn.”

(Thanks to Tom Morehouse for the link)

From VMI Communications and Marketing: The most recent information from parade organizers is that the Corps will be released to start the parade at 5:35 p.m. It is expected the Corps will pass the reviewing stand at 5:57 p.m. It should be noted that all times are best estimates at this time. The speed with which earlier units in the parade proceed will affect the actual time the Corps begins the 22-minute march to the reviewing stand.

Please note that most networks will break away at 1700 for local news, etc., but CNN will be covering the parade in its entirety.

See the VMI News Page for updates and changes.

Update:   In case you didn’t get to see the last of the parade (where VMI was), there is a YouTube video of the coverage here.  If you watched the parade, seeing all 1400 cadets at once was quite impressive comparing them to the 20-200 members of all the preceding units.   Some good comments and kudos on the YouTube site.

The Virginia Military Institute Foundation has begun a national search to find a replacement for James L. Adams ’71, the foundation’s executive vice president. Adams announced earlier this year that he will retire on June 30 after 11 years as the person responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Foundation.

The Foundation board of trustees has changed the title of the position to chief executive officer to more accurate reflect the responsibilities of the Foundation as an institution and the demanding duties of the person who leads its daily operations. The chief executive officer will work for the private VMI Foundation and is not an employee of VMI, a state-supported college.

The VMI Foundation provides private financial support necessary to sustain and improve the Institute’s academic and co-curricular programs. The Foundation also raises the funds needed to support capital improvements at VMI so that faculty and staff have the necessary facilities to teach cadets and help them develop their skills as leaders.

In October, Foundation President Walter C. Perrin II ’62 announced the formation of a search committee to find a successor to Adams. The committee selected the executive search firm Boardwalk Consulting of Atlanta, Ga., to assist the committee in the search.

See the detailed search announcement and information on how to apply for the position.

From the VMI Communications Office: Cadet Gregory E. Lippiatt is one of 32 American men and women selected to receive the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship, the Rhodes Trust announced yesterday. In the process, the York, Pa., native also became the 11th cadet from Virginia Military Institute to earn the honor since 1921.  Read the entire article here.

The latest Institute Report is now on line on the VMI web site and may be found here.

You may already be receiving this publication by mail, but the online version will reach you a lot sooner, in addition to saving a few trees and VMI’s printing cost.  You can use this link to sign up for a free electronic subscription.  The subscription provides worldwide email notification when the latest Institute Report is posted to the VMI website.

For those of us who travel down the Valley on occasion….

From VMI Communications and Marketing

An exceptional collection of art centered on the theme of the Civil War soldier is the subject of a new exhibit at the New Market Battlefield State Historical Park’s Hall of Valor Museum.  Artists with firsthand knowledge of their subject painted all of the pieces during the years immediately following the war.  Noted artists Julian Scott, Edwin Forbes, E. L. Henry, and John Rogers are represented in the collection.  Over a period of 75 years, three generations of the Raeburn family of New York, N.Y., assembled this significant collection, which focuses attention on the individual soldier rather than great battle depictions.

Robert A. Raeburn presented the family’s art collection to the Virginia Military Institute on the occasion of the 50^th reunion of his VMI class.

From VMI Communications and Marketing:

Virginia Military Institute kept its place in the top rank of liberal arts colleges in the latest ranking released by U.S. News & World Report.

In the rankings released today (Aug. 22) VMI was ranked as the No. 3 public liberal arts college in the nation, coming in behind the U.S. Military Academy and the U.S. Naval Academy. This is the same position VMI held last year, when federal service academies were added to that category for the first time. For the previous six years, VMI held the No. 1 position.

VMI also held onto its position of 71 among all liberal arts colleges – both public and private – in the nation, putting it firmly in the 1^st Tier of colleges nationwide. This equals the highest ranking VMI has ever held among all colleges.

(Read on …)

From VMI Communications and Marketing: LEXINGTON, Va., Aug. 15, 2008 – Forbes magazine ranked VMI on its list of America’s Best Colleges this week. VMI ranked No. 9 in the list of public colleges, just behind such institutions as the U.S. Military Academy, the University of Virginia, the College of William and Mary, but ahead of many other well-respected schools.

For more information, read the Forbes article as well as the individual VMI listing.

Board of Visitors Elects New President — Thomas G. Slater Jr., ‘66, a partner in the Richmond law firm Hunton & Williams, was elected president of the Virginia Military Institute’s Board of Visitors at the board’s meeting on May 3.

Slater’s term begins July 1 when he will take the place of G. Gilmer Minor III, chairman of Owens & Minor Inc., a Richmond-based Fortune 500 distributor of medical and surgical supplies. Minor, a 1963 VMI graduate, was elected president of board three years ago and has been a member of the board since 2000. See the full press release here.

Board Raises Tuition and Fees — The cost of attending Virginia Military Institute will increase 5.2 percent for Virginia residents and 5.9 percent for out-of-state residents for the academic year beginning in August. The VMI Board of Visitors approved the tuition and fee increase at its meeting May 3. The cost for in-state cadets will increase from $16,156 to $17,000. For out-of-state cadets, the cost increases from $32,000 to $33,898. (Ouch!!) See the full press release here.

The Institute Report is published for faculty and staff members, cadets, and other readers important to VMI (That includes us alumni). The Report is published monthly during the academic year, with a total of eight issues annually. Many of us already get it through the mail, but it is available on the Internet with email notification to you. Your advantage is that you would get it several weeks before it would arrive at your home.

You can also view the latest and past issues on line. Go to the Institute Report Web Page and sign up.

From the VMI Office of Communications and Marketing:

LEXINGTON, Va., March 5, 2008 – Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates will deliver the commencement address to Virginia Military Institute’s graduating cadets on May 16. The commencement exercise is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. in Cameron Hall.

“The Class of 2008 is honored to have Secretary Gates as our commencement speaker,” said class president Cadet Jason L. Webb of Bowie, Md. “His acceptance of our invitation means so much to our class, and particularly the commissioning graduates that will soon be serving in harm’s way.” Webb said the members of the class appreciate the obligations they will assume upon graduation. The fact that Secretary Gates is a major national leader makes him an appropriate speaker for graduates who will pursue careers of leadership in the military and civilian sectors.

Read the remainder of the press release here.

From the Keydet Club Web Site: VMI head football coach Jim Reid has accepted the linebackers coaching position with the NFL’s Miami Dolphins and is resigning his current position at the Institute. VMI athletic director Donny White made the announcement Wednesday. Reid, who coached the Keydets for the past two seasons, will join new Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano’s staff immediately.

Read the rest of the Keydet Club article here.

Here’s Monday’s article from the Miami Dolphins website.

Here’s a link to a short video from WDBJ, Ch 7, in Roanoke about the preparations for the Rose Bowl. (Sorry - WDBJ doesn’t store its videos for very long — the link is gone.)
Update - 18 Dec: A new article in the Roanoke Times is here. Click on the Picture Gallery for some interesting shots. (Looks like the Band has traveling uniforms like the athletic teams. Probably a lot more comfortable than a blouse and straight pants!)

From the VMI News Center

LEXINGTON, Va., Nov. 21, 2007 – In late November and early December, the VMI Regimental Band and Pipe Band will be preparing in earnest for their highest-profile performance ever: the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, Calif., on Jan. 1.

This will be possibly the first appearance ever of a Virginia state college band in what is known as the “Super Bowl” of parades. The parade will be seen by 400 million worldwide on TV and 1 million on site.

“We’ve never had a composite brass and bagpipe band in the parade,” remarked CL Keedy III, Tournament of Roses president and chairman of the board, on a visit to VMI in early November. College bands are few and far between in the Rose Parade. There are many more high school bands than collegiate ones. “I can’t remember the last time there was a Virginia band,” even a high school one, in the parade, Keedy said.

VMI’s will be one of only three college bands in the parade other than the two from the universities that will vie in the Rose Bowl football game.

(Read on …)

The redesigned VMI web site launches on Wednesday, 5 September. Click the navigation link on the sidebar or go to www.vmi.edu. The Web site will provide some new content, especially among top-level pages, and some simplified navigation.

The Roanoke Times published an article on Sunday, 12 August, concerning the 10-year anniversary of the admission of the first class including women to the Institute. Actually not a bad write up.

Read the article here

Hey — I’m an ex-Tweet. Great exposure (why didn’t we do this stuff?) For Bill Scherer — Since you are in the neighborhood, I think we need some good pictures of this.

From the VMI News Center:

LEXINGTON, Va., July 17, 2007 - The VMI Regimental Band and Pipe Band has been invited to perform in the 119th Tournament of Roses Parade to be held in Pasadena, Calif., on New Year’s Day 2008.

The VMI Band is one of only five college bands chosen to participate, and this is the first Virginia college band to have ever been invited to this prestigious event. The Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association praised the VMI Band as a “unique musical organization combining excellent traditional military precision with the supplementation of the bagpipes, in addition to exceptional leadership.”

(Read on …)

From the VMI Department of Communications:

LEXINGTON, Va., April 18, 2007 – A memorial service honoring victims of the tragic events at Virginia Tech earlier this week is scheduled for 7:45 p.m. Thursday (April 19) in Jackson Memorial Hall. The service is for cadets, faculty and staff members and their families. VMI Chaplain Colonel James Park will conduct the service.

Also, the weekly parade by the Corps of Cadets that is scheduled for 4:35 p.m. Friday will include a moment of silence for the students and faculty members at Virginia Tech who died.

U.S. Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign today (4 Apr) announced that John McCain, during the month of April, will deliver three major policy speeches and make his presidential candidacy official with a tour through early primary states, ending in his home state of Arizona. John McCain’s first major policy speech on his commitment to winning the war in Iraq will be delivered April 11th at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in Lexington. Remainder of the press release is here.

(From “Inside VMI”) Senator John McCain will speak to the VMI Corps of Cadets at 11:30 a.m., Wednesday, 11 April, in Jackson Memorial Hall. He will present a major speech on the war. Due to space limitations in JM Hall, only the Corps of Cadets and a few invited guests will attend the speech. The speech is not open to the public. Press coverage for this event is expected to be considerable. Additional details will be released as received.

A comment on my own post: I wonder which pundit will be the first to draw an analogy on a policy announcement on the Iraq War given in front of the imposing painting of the charge of the Corps of Cadets at the Battle of New Market. The Comment Line is open…..

Updated: You can read about it, as well as view some photos on the VMI web site here

LEXINGTON, Va., March, 2007 - Members of the VMI Pipes and Drums will play in New York City’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade on March 17. See coverage of preparations for the trip from WDBJ-TV. The page has a link to a video story about it all. According to the report, the parade may be nationally televised and the VMI contingent will be one of the first units. It starts at 11:00 AM, so don’t tune in late.

Read about the Pipes and Drums’ last appearance in the parade.

LEXINGTON, Va., December 20, 2006 – Retired U.S. Army Col. Thomas H. Trumps, a 1979 graduate of Virginia Military Institute, has been named the Institute’s new Commandant of Cadets.

Trumps, who will assume his new duties during the early part of the 2007 spring semester, retired from active military service in 2003. For the last three years he has worked for Raytheon, a large defense contractor in Northern Virginia. He will replace Col. Eric Hutchings, who has been Commandant of Cadets for the last seven years. Hutchings, the longest-serving commandant since Scott Shipp’s 27-year tenure in the position from 1862 to 1889, will assume duties as Chief of Staff in the Athletic Department.
Read the rest of the article from the VMI Communications Department here.

For those away from Virginia, here is an interesting article about VMI basketball in the Washington Post — looks like it’s a little different in Cameron Hall this year. Read the article here.

Update, 27 December: I received another reference to this way of playing from a local alum — this link goes to the Sports Illustrated National Statistics page — the Keydets are leading the nation (!!!) in several categories, including scoring, assists, and steals.

From the VMI Department of Communications and the Alumni Association

LEXINGTON, Va., Nov 20, 2006 — The Virginia Military Institute Alumni Association is again collecting mailing addresses of alumni deployed overseas as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. This is the second time a recognition program has been implemented to recognize alumni serving in both Afghanistan and Iraq.

The addresses will be used to mail unique VMI hats that are embroidered with the VMI Spider, “Heard from today” and the letters OIF/OEF.

“We’ve had literally hundreds of alumni who are overseas and making sacrifices the VMI family appreciates so much,” said James F. Spellman Jr. ’85, president of the VMI Alumni Association. “This special hat was universally adopted during our first mailing to troops and it’s something alumni really appreciate.”

The Alumni Association will collect ground addresses via email by sending the APO address and complete address to: jwranek@vmiaa.org. The addresses collected will allow the Alumni Association to provide information and items to alumni while they are deployed throughout the year, and not just during the holidays.

Glenn Kuntz dropped me a line with the following:

The VMI-Army game will be broadcast on the ESPN Classic Channel at 1:00 PM on Saturday, 7 October.

Additional info: It will also be on the ESPN 360 Channel. Check here for the cable channel in your area.

There is a little email banter going on about this game. Reminder - any registered member to this site may write a posting (what you are reading) and also may comment (reply) to those posts (click on “Comments” at the lower right of each posting to get to the form). Please remember that your posts and comments are viewable to the world.

And it was brand new when we were Rats!!

The Lexington News-Gazette had an article about the last event in Lejeune Hall. Link to the article here. Time marches on and barracks has to get bigger (like my waistline!)

UPDATE: If you want to watch the progress (?) you can click here for the Webcam.

From Inside VMI (link)

VMI Office of Communications & Marketing has negotiated best rates with DC101, Washington, DC’s most listened to classic rock station and Washington’s radio leader for more than 30 years to reach our potential target audience of high school age prospects in Northern Virginia with a series of VMI commercial spot announcements. DC101 blankets the greater Washington Metropolitan area and serves an audience of more than 650,000 each week on an assigned frequency of FM 101.1. (Read on …)

From Inside VMI (link)

VMI Office of Communications & Marketing Summer Partnering Campaign. Communications and Marketing is launching a summer VMI ad campaign as part of its marketing effort which consists of outdoor advertising signs on I-64 near Richmond airport and Newport News, mall kiosks in five Virginia malls, radio commercial spot announcements, and VMI screen ads in four Virginia theaters (Valley View Cinema, Roanoke VA; Harbor View Grande, Suffolk, VA; Kingstowne Town Center, Alexandria, VA; and Commonwealth 20, Richmond, VA) Beginning 12 May and running for three months, the first in the series, VMI Screen Ads will be showing in the following theaters on every screen and prior to every movie. A total of 68 screens will feature the VMI ad with the potential of reaching nearly a million patrons in a period of three months, all in time for the summer blockbusters.

A nice article for the Memorial Day weekend from the News-Gazette.  VMI Cadets visit the beaches at Normandy.  It’s on the VMI web site here.

Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld will deliver the commencement address to Virginia Military Institute’s graduating cadets on May 16. The commencement exercise is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. in Cameron Hall. This will mark the secretary’s first visit to VMI in his tenure as Secretary of Defense.

“The Class of 2006 is honored to have Secretary Rumsfeld as our commencement speaker,” said class president Cadet Michael R. Pasquale of South Salem, N.Y. “Duty and service to the nation are examples of Secretary Rumsfeld’s character which we all should emulate. The sacrifice and hardship of a VMI education has prepared us for our future responsibility to the United States. I’m sure the Class of 2006 will find his participation memorable.”

Read the rest of the VMI Press Release here.

The VMI Glee Club is performing at the following locations and times:

Mine Hill New Jersey at Dover High School in the afternoon of March 3rd
(Ryan Doltz ’00 was KIA in Iraq and graduated from Dover High School)
Aboard the USS Intrepid on the Quarterdeck on March 4th at 1300
On Liberty Island on March 4th at 1530

The programs will present a mix of musical numbers including patriotic selections and are open to the public.

The VMI Alumni Association, in an agreement with Roanoke station WSLS-TV (NBC), has begun airing television advertising in a pilot marketing program, one of many marketing initiatives planned this year.

The six ads produced by the VMI Office of Communications & Marketing for the Alumni Association are designed to reinforce the Institute’s cadet recruitment efforts and to enhance the VMI public image. The commercial spots began airing at different times in the program day beginning in late December 2005 and are scheduled to end after the NBC Winter Olympics coverage. To view the ads or download the screensaver, go here.

LEXINGTON, Va., Jan. 16, 2006 - The members of the VMI Corps of Cadets endured rain and cold to honor Virginia’s new governor during his inauguration Saturday in Williamsburg.

Check this link for more information and some very nice pictures.

from RLaneBurgh’s VMI Cyber Corps:

The Corps of Cadets has been invited to the Inaugural Parade on Saturday, 14 January in Williamsburg, Virginia. VMI will be the lead unit in the parade as in 2002. The VMI Corps of Cadets is by far the largest element (1,000+) in the parade of approximately 4,500 to 5,000 total participants.

More information about the Inaugural events can be found at:

http://www.kaineinaugural.com

From “Inside VMI”
VMI’s Office of Communications and Marketing, the Alumni Association and WSLS - TV have been working collaboratively for the past seven months to bring forth a commercial “soft spot” campaign that focuses on VMI’s strengths and values. “Soft spots” are similar to public service announcements, but since VMI doesn’t fit this criteria (public good, or safety, etc), “soft spots” are designed to convey a message which sponsors are often eager and proud to endorse in the same way. (Read on …)

Cal McCombs served as VMI head football coach for seven seasons.

LEXINGTON, Va. – (11-28-05) VMI Athletic Director Donny White announced today that head football coach Cal McCombs has been relieved of his duties, effective 5 December, 2005. Full article on VMIKeydet.com