VMI Turnouts A VMI ALUMNI AGENCIES DIGITAL NEWSLETTER
August 2018
BeanBot Research Bridges Psychology, Robotics by Mary Price, VMI Communications and Marketing Cadet Miyah Boyd ’20 doesn’t aim low. This summer, she learned how to program a robot, but her goal is to provide an electronic companion for people with autism and social anxiety disorder so they can more smoothly navigate a world that they often perceive as harsh, chaotic and threatening. It’s a project spanning three disciplines: Boyd’s major, computer and information sciences, psychology, and electrical and computer engineering. In addition, Boyd is drawing from her own experience of loss after her 17-year-old sister died in a car accident six years ago. “BeanBot,” as Boyd has christened her creation, will be a nonjudgmental friend to those in need of a little emotional support. “BeanBot will be able to talk to them and sense when their heart rate is elevated,” Boyd explained. “It’s just a nice buddy that will help them with their day-to-day life.” The name “BeanBot” came from Boyd’s roommate, Cadet Jennifer Hartman ’20. Hartman calls Boyd “Tink” because Boyd has metal in one of her hip joints after an operation last year, and in return, Boyd calls her close friend “Bean.” The idea for BeanBot came about when Boyd took a class on the history of computers and technology taught by Maj. Hongbo Zhang, assistant professor of computer and information sciences. In that class, she was assigned to write a paper on a project she’d undertake using artificial intelligence. At first, Boyd thought about creating a companion for those experiencing the loss of a loved one. The loved one’s voice could be programmed into a robot, she thought, enabling the mourner to have a final goodbye. Then she had second thoughts, realizing that many people would be unable to let go of a crutch such as this. “I rerouted my idea to people with autism, social anxiety,” she stated. Boyd added that the robot should help people who normally wouldn’t open up to another human share their feelings more freely, as an inanimate object cannot judge them. “It’s kind of a custom companion for people with disabilities,” said Dr.
Ramoni Lasisi, assistant professor of computer and information science, who is guiding Boyd’s Summer Undergraduate Research Institute project. The goal of Boyd’s summer research is to pave the way for BeanBot by learning how to program JD, a robot that Boyd built from a kit. “[JD] teaches me how I should lay out his wiring and how everything should look,” said Boyd. “This summer has been me trying to design a prototype for BeanBot.” The project will encompass the remainder of Boyd’s cadetship and culminate in a capstone project, which could be linked to capstone projects for cadets majoring in either psychology or electrical and computer engineering. Down the road, Boyd will decide on a format for BeanBot – a stand-alone robot, an app on a phone, or an app for the Apple watch or a similar device. So far, she’s leaning toward the watch. “[Users] can carry it around and not bring unwanted attention,” she said. After VMI, Boyd plans to commission into the Army National Guard and possibly work for the FBI. Inspired by the movie “Hidden Figures,” she’s also interested in working for NASA. Cadet Miyah Boyd ’20 pauses with her robot on the porch of Moody Hall. VMI photo by H. Lockwood McLaughlin.
VMI Turnouts A VMI ALUMNI AGENCIES DIGITAL NEWSLETTER
August 2018
Judy Nicholson Kidney Cancer Foundation by Molly Rolon, Assistant Editor, VMI Alumni Agencies
The story of Nick and Judy Nicholson ’62 story began in Hampton, Virginia, when Judy – a cheerleader – caught football player Nick’s eye. She was 14; he was 16. They dated through Nick’s years at VMI and married when he was 21 and she was 19. They were married for 47 years, had two children, 10 grandchildren and one great-grandson. The Nicholsons anticipated spending many more years together, but their lives were abruptly interrupted Feb. 27, 2008, when Judy fainted. The event was unusual for Judy, who had no chronic health conditions. The couple’s son-inlaw, a physician who was working at the local Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida, was able to quickly schedule a doctor appointment for Judy. The doctor visit returned an overwhelming diagnosis: Judy had renal cell carcinoma, commonly known as kidney cancer. By March 2008, Judy had surgery to remove her right kidney. During the surgery, medical professionals found that the cancer had spread to other areas. “We were hopeful. She went on chemotherapy,” Nick remembered, but the disease was relentless. “In August, it returned with a vengeance.” The cancer had spread to Judy’s spinal column, requiring a second surgery to replace vertebrae damaged by the cancer. Judy was paralyzed after the second surgery, leaving the active, successful woman bedridden “from then on,” Nick said. Judy died Oct. 11, 2009. “When it became very apparent that she wasn’t going to live, we talked,” Nick said. Cancer is always overwhelming, but kidney cancer lacks the support of other, more publicized cancers. “There was no patient support group, there was no outreach to anybody who
had kidney cancer.” The Nicholsons were able to speak with Judy’s doctors, but privacy regulations limit information doctors can pass on to patients. “[Doctors] could tell you what the hospital tells them to say, but they can’t – if they have other patients [with kidney cancer] – they just can’t tell you who they are or have you go talk to them. The only way to do this, as we ultimately found out, was through a volunteer patient support group,” Nick remembered. “We had had so many tears and anguish and bad times with Judy’s disease ... just the awfulness of it. There was no one to talk to, ever. So we wanted to form a group – a foundation – that could hopefully save other people from having to go through what we did.” Judy’s family established the Judy Nicholson Kidney Cancer Foundation in January 2009. In the beginning, Nick said, the foundation tried to raise money for research, but soon found that fundraising was not the best use of the foundation’s time. “The little bit of money we could raise through fundraisers was obviously a drop in the bucket for what is needed [for research], and we would spend hours raising paltry sums of money as compared to what was needed,” Nick said. “For example, we might raise $25,000. You literally need millions to make things happen.” The foundation soon shifted its emphasis to something they could concretely and more immediately affect: Reaching out to patients and caregivers to facilitate support and education. The foundation went “back to the base of giving cancer patients and survivors and caregivers support ... Giving them an outreach to talk to one another,” Nick said, recalling the help and support he
and Judy needed during her battle with cancer. With this new focus, the JNKCF was able to offer patient support groups that link up patients, survivors and caregivers. Additionally, the foundation gathers pertinent educational material, including information detailing clinical trials, and collects it in an easily-accessible format on their website. These efforts have culminated in the foundation offering free kidney cancer symposiums, which started at in Jacksonville, at the University of North Florida. Initially, Nick worked with Dr. Winston Tan, an oncologist/hematologist at the Mayo Clinic who
Judy and Nick Nicholson ’62 dated through Nick’s time at VMI and were married for 47 years. During Judy’s battle with kidney cancer, she and Nick were struck by the lack of support available to kidney cancer patients and caregivers. After Judy’s death from the disease, Nick and his family – with help from some VMI alumni – started the Judy Nicholson Kidney Cancer Foundation to provide support and education to kidney cancer patients.
VMI Turnouts A VMI ALUMNI AGENCIES DIGITAL NEWSLETTER
August 2018
shared Nick’s enthusiasm for educating kidney cancer patients and supporters. Through Tan – who also serves on the foundation’s board of directors – the JNKCF was able to bring medical professionals to speak at the symposiums. “We’re offering education, patient support, clinical trial information and help to patients and caregivers to traverse the minefield of ‘how we deal with this disease that we suffer with and where we go for information,’” said Hunt Ozmer ’76, who serves on the foundation’s board and focuses on organizing symposiums. The daylong events provide multifaceted education for kidney cancer patients and caregivers, contact information for support groups and presentations from multiple health professionals. These include specialists in many types of cancer, plus professionals like physical therapists, who are able to give advice on maintaining healthy lifestyles. Education about both clinical trials and determining whether or not to participate in one is also presented, Nick said, noting that the foundation has seen research indicating that only a small percentage of patients are informed about clinical trials. “That’s not good because it takes away the opportunity for the patient and their family to consider other options. So part of our education is simply talking about it. We don’t encourage them to do [a clinical trial], we just tell them that there are clinical trials available. It’s through clinical trials that [pharmaceutical companies] research and that they try to find ways to cure or to treat kidney cancer or any cancer through clinical trials. And without the people participating, they don’t get the data; they don’t know where they’re going
next. So it’s the chicken and the egg. You [need] people doing the clinical trials and you need the clinical trials to find the cure.” The symposiums were “greeted with open arms,” Nick said. “People are eager when they attend; people are amazed at what we’re able to tell them.” Other universities requested that the JNKCF bring symposiums to their areas. The first out-of-area symposium was June 9, 2018, in Indianapolis, Indiana, co-hosted with the University of Indiana, where the symposium was so well-received that the University of Indiana is beginning a local chapter of the JNKCF. The University of Pennsylvania and the University of Miami are also coordinating with the foundation to have symposiums presented on their campuses. Along with presenting symposiums, the JNKCF is beginning to partner with large pharmaceutical companies. These companies have realized the benefits of treating their patients as customers, not the doctor or the hospital, Nick said, noting that pharmaceutical companies are “becoming very benevolent in the way they’re doing things.” Since government regulations restrict how pharmaceutical companies can contact patients, the companies are moving toward partnerships with nonprofits, like the JNKCF, who can “be very open, and we can talk about things more freely, because there’s no profit for us, there’s nothing to gain except helping people,” Nick noted. Through his journey of beginning the foundation and bringing to its current state as an established, well-respected nonprofit, Nick has had the support of both brother rats and fellow Institute alumni. George Robbins ’62
From left, George Mayforth ’82, Nick Nicholson ’62 and Hunt Ozmer ’76 assisted in presenting the second annual Judy Nicholson Kidney Cancer Foundation Symposium at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida, March 17, 2018.
and Darden Nelms ’62 were involved from the beginning, and Nelms was particularly instrumental in developing and administering the foundation’s website, Nick said. “Darden ... is still a dear friend. He was very instrumental in getting us off the ground with the IT sector.” As well as Ozmer, George Mayforth ’82 also serves on the foundation’s board. Being surrounded with help from fellow alumni is “really not that unusual,” Nick said. “We really are a band of brothers, when you’ve gone through the Rat Line there. You have something in common that very few people can really understand. The incredible discipline, the incredible honor system, those are things that created who we are today, when we live beyond that.” For more information, please visit www.jnfkidneycancer.org.
VMI Turnouts A VMI ALUMNI AGENCIES DIGITAL NEWSLETTER
August 2018
No Ordinary Support by CDR Stephen M. Maconi, VMI Alumni Agencies Chief Executive Officer
The VMI family is simply amazing. They are committed and dedicated supporters of the VMI mission. They are mavericks when it comes to their level of loyalty to their alma mater. VMI alumni do not fit the mold of other “small colleges” across our nation. There is no other place like VMI, as demonstrated in Fiscal Year 2018. When VMI’s most recent major fundraising campaign, An Uncommon Purpose, ended with much fanfare and more than $344.1 million in gifts and commitments, there was concern that it would be very difficult to maintain the same momentum as experienced during the extraordinary campaign. In fact, there were some who asserted that the VMI Alumni Agencies, like other schools, should brace for a marked decline in support following the extremely successful campaign. But appreciating that philanthropy at VMI touches every aspect of the cadet experience and after coming to know so many parents, friends, faculty, staff and, especially, alumni, I was optimistic that our results would exceed the national experience for fundraising. As the year progressed, enthusiasm grew, and it seemed likely that the negative projections might be, well, wrong. Indeed, after June 30, we had the final numbers – and they refuted all of the conventional wisdom we had heard.
During FY 2018, the VMI family gave $51 million in support of the Institute, including $41 million in cash gifts. Donors directed gifts to endowments, which generate income to support many areas such as athletic scholarships, need-based financial aid and professorships, as well as provide unrestricted funds. Donors gave more than $6.2 million to the Annual Giving funds managed by the VMI Keydet Club and the VMI Foundation. Keydet Club funds ensure that VMI can make optimum use the of the scholarship “equivalences,” the maximum allowable number of NCAA grants. From the Foundation Fund comes unrestricted money that when coupled with other numerous unrestricted endowments, affords the Institute every possible opportunity to improve its remarkable co-curricular and academic programs. The $10 million in commitments means that, down the road, the Institute can chart its future with immense confidence, because these commitments and the thousands more made in the past will turn into hundreds of millions of dollars of support in the future. All right. A lot of numbers – all of them good – and some general information on what this money will be used for. But what does it all mean in terms of impact? I’ll tell you. Last month, Dallas Clark ’99, the VMI director of finance, administration and support, addressed the combined staffs of the VMI Alumni Agencies. In his briefing, he told the staff that this year, the support from the agencies will make up almost 30 percent of VMI’s operating revenues. Again, nearly one of out of every three dollars that VMI will spend this year comes from our alumni, parents and friends. And while state support increased in terms of dollars – rising
4.1 percent – private support represents the second-largest source of income for VMI. What made those figures stand out even more is what he said after he presented. “Imagine for a moment,” he said, “a VMI that didn’t have this level of private support. A VMI with only 70 percent of its current income. It would not be a VMI any of us would recognize.” Happily, thanks to generations of alumni, parents and friends, we don’t have to imagine a hugely diminished VMI. We can imagine, instead, a VMI moving from strength to strength over the next several decades, a VMI that will serve our country in this century as well (if not better) as it did in the last century. That’s a great thought, but I want you to think of the effect of private support in even more personal terms. If you visit post over the next several months, whenever you see cadets – on parade, walking to class, playing a sport or holding a VMI diploma – I want you to think of what role private support is playing in their lives – what it is doing for each and every one of them. I want you to think of what T. Bryan Barton ’68, VMI Foundation president, said so very well in a speech he gave in April about “the powerful impact that philanthropy has on cadets: Opportunities granted, horizons widened, doors opened and potentials realized.” For having that impact on the current and future of the members of the Corps of Cadets, I thank every one of the 6,761 donors who made a gift or commitment in support of VMI in FY 2018. You did something truly amazing: You had a profound effect on the future of hundreds of young people who – as honorable, determined and well-educated citizen-soldiers – will have an effect as profound on the future of our country.
VMI Turnouts A VMI ALUMNI AGENCIES DIGITAL NEWSLETTER
August 2018
Dealing with Data: VMI Adopts New Math Course by Scott Belliveau ’83, VMI Alumni Agencies Communication Officer From the earliest days of the Institute, mathematics has been an integral part of the VMI education, and every cadet in VMI’s history has taken some form of a mathematics course. Unfortunately, not all cadets approach this common experience with a sense of anticipation. According to Col. Troy Siemers, head of the department of applied mathematics, “The engineering majors are aware that if they don’t perform up to a certain standard in calculus that they’ll likely need to look for a new major. Then, there are some pursuing liberal arts majors who look at it as a requirement to be met – something to be endured.” Others, he said, had “a difficult relationship” with mathematics during elementary and secondary school. Some cadets like the structure that mathematics has, said Siemers, while some just don’t think they can think that way or perhaps believe it is not relevant to their work. Whatever their attitudes and experiences have been, many cadets who cross the threshold of Mallory Hall will have what is known as “math anxiety.” “It’s a nationwide phenomenon,” said Siemers. “VMI is no different in this than, say, William & Mary or the University of Alabama.” Asked his reaction to myriad opinions from students, Siemers chuckled, “Well, how do you think a history professor would react to a math major declaring that learning about the Battle of Waterloo was a useless exercise?” “Seriously, I tell them that mathematics has long been considered an integral part of a liberal education.” If you look at how people were educated in the past, Siemers pointed out, mathematics was a substantial part of it. Thomas Jefferson had a deep interest in mathematics and believed so strongly in its value that he insisted mathematics be part of the curriculum at the University of Virginia and West Point. Closer to home, when Francis Henney Smith received the offer to be VMI’s first superintendent, he was teaching mathematics at Hampden-Sydney College, a renowned liberal arts institution. Siemers backs up his own history lesson with a practical argument. “Look, we live in a data-driven world. Period. It drives more and more things, like sports and business. That means you’ll be dealing with data – a lot of it – and you’ll need to understand data and learn how to apply it.
And, you’ll need to know enough to determine if people are manipulating or misusing data. Put another way, data matters, and it has direct application to businesses’ success, nations’ security and people’s lives.” To meet this need, the department of applied mathematics is introducing new courses for incoming cadets who are not majoring in a STEM field this year: “MA101-102: Math that Matters,” which launched this summer as a pilot program under the auspices of the Summer Transition Program and will begin in earnest later this month. In it, cadets are introduced to statistics, modeling and key aspects of calculus. “They are asked to apply data that they can relate to in a more tangible sense which will be drawn from various departments on post. For example, Paul Moosman ’98 in the biology department will provide information about sampling bat populations, and from the international studies department’s Howard Sanborn, they’ll get polling data. The modern languages and cultures department will ask about planning for a foreign trip, and the physical education department will ask them to examine trends in cadets’ performances in the VFT.”
Under the leadership of Troy Siemers, left, pictured at the 2018 Institute Awards ceremony with Gen. J.H. Binford Peay III ’62, superintendent, the applied mathematics department has established a new introductory math course for non-STEM new cadets.
VMI Turnouts A VMI ALUMNI AGENCIES DIGITAL NEWSLETTER
August 2018
“Using All the Things VMI Gives Them:” Cadets Perform Well at Lockheed Martin Ethics Competition by Scott Belliveau ’83, VMI Alumni Agencies Communication Officer In December 2017, two cadets – Paul Conteh ’18, a computer and information sciences major, and Ross Schmeisser ’18, a mechanical engineering major who was pursuing a minor in mathematics – and Col. Jay Sullivan of the department of mechanical engineering were invited to participate in Lockheed Martin’s Engineering Ethics Case Competition. Aimed to prepare undergraduate students from technical disciplines to face the ethical challenges of the 21st century, the competition demanded that, after receiving a brief summary of a case with implications in engineering, business and ethics, teams from 12 schools analyze it and then make three presentations regarding their recommendations during one day of competition. While that might seem a rather straightforward affair, the experience was somewhat challenging for the cadets and Sullivan, as they received invitation from Lockheed Martin to participate in the competition – which would take place in mid-February – not long before Christmas furlough. As Sullivan recounts it, “Megan Newman, VMI Foundation director of corporate and foundation relations, called me and told me of this event and strongly urged me to take part in it. It involved receiving a case two weeks before the conference and a deadline to submit one week before the conference. I hesitated a bit, but I trusted her judgement and agreed to be the faculty mentor for VMI’s team.” The fact that the conference would take place a little more than a month after cadets returned from Christmas furlough and that they were preparing for the conference on top of their normal academic load and their co-curricular activities was a little daunting. With the deadline for the submission set a week before the conference began, the time constraints got even tighter. Sullivan was also concerned that he had no formal training in ethics and no academic background in the subject. The case itself presented a situation in which an upgraded version of a wireless communications device worn by police and security personnel which had been successful in a counterterrorism role was about to deploy in New York and London. Not long before the rollout, however, questions arise about the dangers posed by the levels of emissions of nonionizing radiation by a key component of the device, especially at its enhanced setting. The board of directors of NOVA, the manufacturing company, is divided over how to proceed. Some are concerned that any substantial delay would damage the company financially; others are concerned that if it becomes known that safety concerns about the equipment were ignored, the company would be irreparably damaged. The participants’ task was to act in the role of “a trusted outside consultant” and “provide a fresh, level-headed perspective on the
conflict.” They would need to present an analysis of the ethical, engineering and business issues related to the case and recommend how the company should proceed in a way that would “provide the best outcome for the company and its stakeholders.” Sullivan admits the case was challenging enough on its face, but there was something about it that made it “a little intimidating” – the absence of technical information. “I am an engineer, and Paul and Ross were STEM majors. With that background, the initial thought is to define the technical problems and design a technical fix. But that was not an option.” The first step Sullivan and the cadets took was to view videos posted on YouTube of presentations at other ethics competitions. “Some of the presentations came across too erudite, peppered with too many 50-cent words. The ones that appealed to us were the ones made by Midshipmen at the Naval Academy. Not only did they ‘speak our language,’ but they also were successful in the competitions. After seeing them, we looked at each other and said, ‘We can do this.’” As they examined the case, the cadets and Sullivan kept a key point in mind: There was no one good choice. “By that, I mean any recommendation we could propose had both positive and negative effects,” he explained. “Anything we recommend would be by necessity a compromise and it would involve risk. Risk for the company, risk for the people using the device, risk for investors, risk for the company’s employees.”
Ross Schmeisser ’18, left, and Paul Conteh ’18 represented VMI at Lockheed Martin’s Engineering Ethics Case Competition. Col. Jay Sullivan of the department of mechanical engineering, center, served as their adviser.
VMI Turnouts A VMI ALUMNI AGENCIES DIGITAL NEWSLETTER
August 2018
The event took place at Lockheed Martin’s facility in Fort Worth, Texas, where – in a mile-long factory – thousands of components come together to make the advanced F-35 Lightning II fighter. “It is an incredibly impressive place and, for anyone with an engineering background, exceptionally exciting because of what is done there and the high level at which it is done,” according to Sullivan. The competition took one day and was divided into three phases. The first was a 90-second “elevator talk,” in which each team gave a short summation of its recommendation without using any notes. After that, the 12 teams were divided into groups of four and, in three separate conference rooms, made a 20-minute presentation in which each team laid out its recommendations in detail. The top-finishing school from each of these initial sets of presentations went on to the final, where they faced what Sullivan described as a “grilling” from the full panel of judges who took on the role of the top executives of the company. The cadets cleared the first two hurdles, although the elevator talk was, as Sullivan put it, “the most nerve-wracking.” When the competition ended, VMI placed third out of 12 schools, with the University of Arizona and Virginia Tech taking second and first place, respectively. Asked why he thinks the cadets placed so highly, Sullivan said, “I think it was how they embraced the notion of risk.” The cadets proposed that the company continue to deploy the device because its potential to prevent terrorism was too valuable to set aside but also admit its possible safety risk and commit to working out a technical fix as soon as possible. In the meantime, police and security personnel would be instructed to use the device’s “enhanced” mode only in times of heightened alert, and the company would establish a fund that would pay for the treatment of any health problems that the use of the device might cause. “What they were proposing was practical risk management, and that practical side obviously appealed to businessmen and women. That approach also demonstrated a creative side to their thinking that was appealing, as well.” “What made their presentation stand out even more, however,” continued Sullivan, “was how they were able to convince the judges that police officers would be willing to accept the risk of using the device based on their willingness to serve in the military. Ross Schmeisser, who commissioned in the Marines, said he is willing to put his life on the line to defend the country, and that police personnel have that same attitude.” Sullivan further explained that the way Conteh and Schmeisser presented themselves, which was also appreciated by the judges, reflected the value of the VMI experience. “Cadets learn to carry themselves with dignity, and Paul and Ross did so on and off the podium. Cadets learn not to be afraid to stand in front of people and make a case, because they do it all the time. They have to make decisions and justify them to faculty and staff, as well as bear their consequences. The nature and intensity of cadet life is such that not too many situations and not too many people rattle them,” said Sullivan. “It was no surprise, therefore, that even under the most intense grilling from the judges on the third panel, these two were unflappable, carried themselves with immense
dignity and displayed exceptional maturity.” Asked for his impressions of the experience, Conteh said, “I was struck by the level of expertise and detail this forum demanded. I was pleased to be taking part in a forum on ethics, because it seems to be something lacking in today’s workplace.” He continued, “It also was very interesting to see how a Fortune 500 company maintains a high level of excellence in all it does. The tour they gave us provided an in-depth look on how amazing it is to work at a place that is making a difference.” Sullivan echoed Conteh’s thoughts when asked what it was that cadets would derive from attending events such as this one. “Cadets would see, as Paul and Ross did, what they’d be engineering if they worked for a company like Lockheed Martin. Looking at a mammoth project like the F-35, they’d have their eyes opened to all that goes into it: Supply chains, sustainability and, yes, ethics.” Sullivan continued, “They also would get the chance to meet executives in these businesses. That not only exposes them to how the leadership lessons they learn at VMI will apply to a different and more complicated problem set but also lets them imagine themselves in executive positions in the future. That would broaden their horizons and open them up to new and exciting opportunities. In other words, the cadet who thinks that after serving in the Army, he wants to return to Richmond and work for a construction company might say, ‘I’d rather move to Texas and help build fighter jets or space systems.’” Asked what he saw as the benefits for faculty members to be involved in such an event would be, Sullivan said, “Much like the cadets, I got a lot out of meeting professors from other colleges. This event also was different from the usual academic conference because, rather than having 10 panels running at once and everyone divided among them, there was one set of events. That allows for more interaction and for deeper discussion about what happened. Plus, there was so much else that was truly amazing at this conference, from the factory tour to meeting the chief test pilot for the F-35 program, Al Norman, an Air Force Academy graduate who holds a Ph.D. in electrical engineering and has almost 25 years of experience as an experimental test pilot in the military and private industry. You usually don’t meet people like that at an academic conference.” Summing up his experiences at the conference, Conteh said, “We got great support from VMI, beginning with Colonel Sullivan and Charlene Graves, the secretary at the mechanical engineering department, which meant Ross and I could concentrate on the competition. Finally, I felt like I was an ambassador for VMI.” Sullivan responded, “I came away hoping that cadets get more opportunities to attend events like this one, because they can apply all those things that VMI gives them, like teamwork and determination, and people who aren’t all that familiar with VMI will see what an extraordinary place it is and what extraordinary people it graduates. Events like these, often supported by private donations, also inspire cadets to higher levels of academic excellence. As for me, well, it was kind of exhausting, but it was the high point of my semester.”
VMI Turnouts A VMI ALUMNI AGENCIES DIGITAL NEWSLETTER
August 2018
Cadet Research Uncovers Alumni Heroism by Mary Price, VMI Communications & Marketing Everyone knows about the generals who helped the Allies to win World War II – names such as Dwight Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur and, of course, Gen. George C. Marshall, Class of 1901, come to mind. But what about the captains, lieutenants, corporals and others who also contributed to the defeat of the Axis powers and especially those fighting far from the beaches of Normandy? This summer, Cadet Andrew Schifalacqua ’19 is working under the guidance of Lt. Col. Brad Coleman ’95, associate professor of history, to uncover the stories of former VMI cadets who fought in the Italian campaign during World War II. His summer research, which will form the basis of a departmental honors thesis, was conducted under the auspices of the Summer Undergraduate Research Institute. That research has taken Schifalacqua near and far, from the VMI archives in Preston Library all the way to Louisville, Kentucky, where he discovered the personal papers of an alumnus. “Twentieth century American history is something I’ve always loved,” said Schifalacqua, who plans to commission in the Army and hopes to attend graduate school down the road. “I chose [cadets] in the Italian campaign because it was highly ignored,” Schifalacqua continued. “D-Day kind of stole the show.” Schifalacqua also felt that the big-name generals had stolen the show, at least to some extent, when it came to World War II scholarship. “I’m concentrating my research on those [smaller scale unit guys], because you don’t see as much scholarship on them,” he said. To start his project, Schifalacqua began with the VMI archives, where he was able to identify 19 former cadets, not all of whom graduated from the Institute, who had served in Italy in World War II. Of those 19, he chose nine to focus his research and writing on. It wasn’t hard for Schifalacqua to find cadets. “You start out with a couple cadets and then it just expands, because the VMI alumni network is just as it is today,” he noted. It was a search for more information about one of those cadets, Marshall Hardy Jr. ’40, that took Schifalacqua to Kentucky, where he was able to read Hardy’s papers at the Filson Historical Society. The young officer’s letters home reveal homesickness and weariness with war, as he wrote to his parents and sister that the mountains of Italy reminded him of House Mountain near Lexington and that more than anything else, he wanted the fighting to end so he could go home. As of mid-June, Schifalacqua was planning to interview Hardy’s daughter to gain a more complete perspective on her father’s war experience. On another trip away from post, Schifalacqua spent time at
Cadet Andrew Schifalacqua ’19. VMI photo by H. Lockwood McLaughlin.
the National Archives in Washington, D.C., where he found information about two more alumni, Joseph Harris ’40 and Stuart Seaton ’41. The two had been in the same company at VMI and then found themselves serving together in Italy with the 82nd Airborne. Harris, Schifalacqua noted, founded the Army’s airborne artillery unit in 1942, just two years before he was killed in battle at Anzio. Seaton, on the other hand, lived to be 96 years old and was interviewed by cadets in 2015 when Coleman and Lexington journalist Lisa Tracy led a group of cadets in an upper-level history class in an oral history project. As for Schifalacqua, it’s been a summer to discover the thrill of the hunt. “At times, it’s like finding a needle in a haystack, but when you find that needle, it just makes you want to go on for more things,” he commented. Coleman, a military historian by training, has been impressed by the dedication Schifalacqua has shown – especially by making the drive to Kentucky. “He found rich material outside of the folder that said ‘VMI’ on it. That leads to unique rewards,” said Coleman. “He’s done a terrific job,” Coleman noted. “He’s an outstanding student – all of the attributes and characteristics of the relentless young scholar.” For Schifalacqua, the research has been enjoyable, but the real purpose of his labor is to share the stories of those who fought in World War II before they are lost to death and time. “As this generation is kind of slipping away, what better way to give back and remember the legacy these men had – especially the ones you don’t hear [about] too much because they weren’t generals or chiefs of staff,” he said.
VMI Turnouts A VMI ALUMNI AGENCIES DIGITAL NEWSLETTER
August 2018
Leadership Camp Reveals Possibilities for Rural Girls by Ashlie Walter, VMI Communications & Marketing
At a new camp hosted by Virginia Military Institute, girls have the usual camp experiences like making new friends and camping outdoors, but they also learn about something new at the Rockbridge Girls Leadership Exchange Camp – all of the academic opportunities open to them. The camp, held in June, is an academic summer project conducted by Cadet Annika Tice ’19 and Maj. Stephanie Hodde, assistant professor of English, rhetoric and humanistic studies. About 14 girls attended the four-day camp, during which they took part in activities on post ranging from building rock sculptures to learning digital storytelling. Other adventures took them off post, including yoga and camping at Cave Mountain Lake. Maj. Julie Brown, assistant professor of ERHS, and Col. Jay Sullivan, professor of mechanical engineering, developed a “Layers of Place” project where girls composed journals and sketches identifying their connections to a place and used engineering concepts to create the rock sculptures on North Post. Col. Holly Richardson, professor of physical education, and Maj. Michelle Caruthers, deputy director of the Physical Plant, worked with girls in meditation and yoga exercises and led a stream walk investigation at Cave Mountain Lake. “I asked Annika to focus on particular qualities of experience in both campers’ social interactions and learning narratives that reveal growth or potential; we still need to complete our analyses, but
the quality of their work we observed already shows us that these kinds of summer exchanges reveal possibilities for giving rural girls access to conversations about where they are, and what they want to become,” Hodde said. For Elaine Price, 13, camping at Cave Mountain Lake was the best part of the leadership camp and she also enjoyed learning about central gravity through the rock sculptures. Price’s sister, Ginny Price, 13, also attended the camp and noted she enjoyed making new friends with girls she had not met before. “It was really cool building all the things and the rock stacking,” Ginny said. Faculty members who taught classes during the camp volunteered after hearing Tice introduce the idea for a girls’ camp at a “brown bag seminar” in April. The seminar focused on Tice’s idea for a program that encourages higher education among rural girls. Tice combined her experience with female adolescent development and curriculum design from Maury River Middle School’s Focus Learn Observe Watch, or FLOW, program to complement Hodde’s concept of a Rockbridge Girls Leadership Exchange for the camp. The Girls Leadership Exchange initiative is funded in part by the VMI Center for Undergraduate Research’s Whetmore Fund, VMI’s ERHS Department and Maury River Middle School’s FLOW Program. A long-term goal of the program is to include VMI faculty in an interdisciplinary STEAM education for girls and expose them to multiple avenues for leadership and academic futures. “We wanted to create an opportunity for girls that was outside of their school environment, but where they still used their academic skills to solve challenges and craft solutions,” Hodde said. Tice wanted to better understand how girls draw on and push beyond their rural identities and experiences to develop creative thinking practices – something she is familiar with after growing up in Java, Virginia, a community in Pittsylvania County. Tice said her experience in VMI’s ROTC program and as a leader in the Corps of Cadets gave her confidence in organizing an event like the girls’ camp and working to manage those involved. “Being able to conduct research at all is something I never thought I would do, let alone create a girls’ program from its foundation. None of it would have been possible without the generosity, support and time that the VMI community has spent and continues to spend in equipping me to pursue my passions,” Tice said. Cadet Annika Tice ’19 works with campers building rock sculptures during the Girls Leadership Exchange Camp. VMI photo by Kelly Nye.
VMI Turnouts A VMI ALUMNI AGENCIES DIGITAL NEWSLETTER
August 2018
13 Keydets Earn Spring Academic All-Conference Honors Thirteen VMI Keydets were named to the SoCon Spring Academic All-Conference Team, which was released in July. Two Keydets, baseball’s Cadet Josh Winder ’19 and lacrosse’s Cadet John O’Donnell ’19, carried 4.0 GPAs on the way to recognition on the squad that honored those with 3.3 (or higher) cumulative GPAs. Student-athletes also needed to participate in 50 percent of their team’s competitions or, in limited exceptions, be a significant contributor. Other athletes that made the list included track’s Lee Warren ’18, a multi-time All-SoCon honoree who graduated in December, and Josh Willard ’18, the runner-up in the 800 meter at the conference meet.
Baseball Brandon Barbery ’18 Corey Johnston ’19 Josh Winder ’19 Men’s Track and Field Tripp Fitch ’18 Donovan Walton ’18 (outdoor only) Lee Warren ’18 Josh Willard ’18
Men’s Lacrosse John O’Donnell ’19 Women’s Track and Field Bethany King ’18 Catrena Schumacher ’19 Wrestling Robert DuPont ’20 Max Gallahan ’20
Rifle Nick Reynolds ’20 Katherine Watson ’18
Track and field’s Lee Warren ’18 was among those named Academic All-Conference by the SoCon in early July. Photo by Chuck Steenburgh ’86.