Junior ExtraCurricular Piece

What does it mean to be Marion Made?

Marion Military Institute cadets tackle far more than the average freshman course load at a civilian college. In addition to their academic coursework, cadets develop superior leadership skills while upholding the core values of Truth, Honor and Service. Even more impressive about our cadets is how they fill their free time. Whether you have interests in the fine arts or the great outdoors, there is a place for you. MMI offers a variety of extracurricular activities to supplement all your hard work!

Honor Guard

The MMI Honor Guard is responsible for all of the customs and courtesies entailed in the handling of the National and School Colors, not only on campus, but at extracurricular events as well. The organization plays a key role in representing MMI throughout the country.

Band & Chorus

MMI’s Military Marching Band preserves our military traditions and provides cadets an opportunity for a more enriching educational experience through the performing arts. The MMI band provides the marshall spirit for a variety of campus events, pass in reviews, and parades. The Band has also performed in parades for Veterans Day, Christmas, Inaugurations, and Mardi Gras. MMI is proud to offer band scholarships. All scholarships are awarded on talent, leadership, musicianship, and the need within the organization.

Students interested in Chorus will earn credit for their participation and membership. The repertoire consists of a broad range of periods and styles. Public concerts, special events and school assemblies are all a part of the yearly schedule.

Intramural Sports

Currently, MMI Intramural Sports include options ranging from flag football to improving marksmanship. These sporting events also help foster a sense of healthy competition between cadet companies. A diverse student activities schedule gives each cadet a chance to find a positive outlet during their time at MMI, while promoting the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle.

Active Minds

MMI’s Active Minds chapter is a peer-to-peer student organization promoting mental health programs on campus. Together with Cadet Resilience Officers, this group provides peer-to-peer support, mental health awareness campaigns, events, advocacy, outreach and more. Each semester they host at least one programing event, such as “Send Silence Packing” or hosting a guest speaker, and one morale event such as a finals blitz bonfire. This group is open to all cadets who want to help their fellow cadets by promoting a positive and supportive mental health environment on campus.

Leaders Club

The purpose of the Leaders Club is to promote volunteerism and service learning through the Corps of Cadets and advance the betterment of the City of Marion, Perry County and the Black Belt region of Alabama. Club leaders coordinate the projects each semester and tailor them to the needs of the community and the interest of club members. Examples of projects include working with local schools, mentoring young students, working on school beautification projects, assisting the City of Marion to preserve its downtown area, and visiting the local nursing homes.

Phi Theta Kappa

Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society recognizes and encourages scholarship among two-year college students. Membership in Phi Theta Kappa provides MMI cadets with opportunities for the development of leadership and service, an intellectual climate for the exchange of ideas and ideals, lively fellowship for scholars, and stimulation of interest in continuing academic excellence.

Mu Alpha Theta

Mu Alpha Theta, the National High School and Two-Year College

Mathematics Honor Society, was formed in 1957 at the University of Oklahoma. MAT is dedicated to inspiring a keen interest in mathematics, developing strong scholarship in the subject, and promoting the enjoyment of mathematics in high school and two-year college students.

Scuba Tigers

The MMI Scuba Tigers organization provides an opportunity for cadets to become open-water certified SCUBA divers. MMI partners with the instructional staff of Southern Skin Divers Supply to provide a thorough education and certification process. Ultimately, certified members of the club get to enjoy a myriad of group dive trips throughout their time at MMI. Fees for this program and associated equipment are in addition to MMI tuition and fees.

The certification process involves four days of weekend training (classroom and water skills) at MMI facilities followed by check dives off the Florida coast.

Once certified, cadets officially become members of the MMI Scuba Tiger Club and may attend scheduled dive trips.

Club dives typically include river drift diving on Florida’s Crystal River, snorkeling with manatees and wreck diving trips out of Orange Beach, Alabama and Panama City, Florida.

Flying Tigers

Marion Military Institute partners with AeroPro LLC, a local FAA Part 141 flight training organization, to offer cadets an extracurricular FAA-sanctioned Flight Training Program This program has several options depending on a cadet’s goal. Cadets may earn up to a FAA commercial pilot’s license. The Flying Tigers learn to fly through a combination of FAA ground school instruction, online learning, and in-flight training. Fees for this program are in addition to MMI tuition and fees and are charged directly by AeroPro. MMI offers a variety of scholarships after completion of ground

Flying Tigers Flight Training Program Options:

— designed mainly for cadets in the Service Academy Program. The minimum goal is to get the cadet through 15 flight hours, ground school, and successful solo flight.

This track is for cadets wanting to “fast track” to commercial pilot career pipeline by graduating with an Associate’s Degree and commercial and instrument ratings.

This track is for 2-year cadets who wish to continue their commercial aviation interest at a 4-year school offering a civil aviation

Obstacle Course Racing Team

The Mud Tigers, the Obstacle Course Racing team, push themselves physically and mentally to overcome challenges like rough terrain, obstacles, and mental challenges. They use MMI’s military-grade obstacle course to train for competitions around the country such as Tough Mudder and BoneFrog Challenge.

MMI Knights

Over the years, the MMI Knights have established a reputation as a topnotch precision drill team. They make numerous appearances representing Marion Military Institute throughout the state of Alabama. They participate in parades for Veterans Day, Christmas, Inaugurations, Mardi Gras, and support high school JROTC drill meets across the state.

Since the establishment of the organization, over 1,000 cadets have participated and earned the right to be called MMI Knights. Their motto is Brotherhood, Fidelity, and Perfection. Scholarships are available for the precision drill team. Cadets interested in becoming a Knight must complete a training session.

Ethics Bowl

The Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl is an annual competitive intercollegiate ethics analysis tournament conducted in the fall under the auspices of the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics. Unlike debates, the Ethics Bowl is a competition in the analysis of ethics cases. A threejudge panel asks each team questions that arise on topics ranging from professional ethics to social and political topics. Teams are scored on their analysis, defense and presentation of ethical issues involved in the case study. MMI Ethics Bowl team practices during the academic year. The competitive team is then selected to compete in the regional and national level competitions with 2-year colleges and, potentially, 4-year universities. MMI has been very competitive since its start in 2017, in 2019 MMI placed 2nd in the two-year category and 4th in 2018. In 2022 they won the “Spirit of the Ethics Bowl” award in regional competition.

Esports

MMI established the first Esports program in Alabama’s two-year system in 2021 and is a member of the National Junior College Athletic Association – Esports. An extracurricular club, MMI Esports competes nationally in the NJCAAE program with Fall and Spring schedules. Games played include individual and team Overwatch, Call of Duty, Fortnite, Super Smash Bros., FIFA 21, Rainbow 6, Rocket League, NBA2K21 and Valorant.

Ranger Challenge

The Ranger Challenge team is an extracurricular activity for Early Commissioning Program cadets. This activity provides special training to cadets who are interested in rigorous physical training, military skills development, and participation in additional field training exercises. The team represents Marion Military Institute at the annual Bold Leader Challenge Military Skills Competition at Ft. Knox, KY. Membership is open to all MMI cadets who meet the qualification standards and the minimum participation requirements. Members are easily identified by their distinctive tan beret.

Swamp Fox

The Swamp Fox organization closely replicates Ranger School. Members practice small unit tactics, rappelling, development of operations orders, etc. Throughout the school year, the Swamp Foxes play a pivotal role in many campus events. Members play a key role during the campus-wide Intensive Training Cycle for incoming cadets, as they host the rappel tower, the one-rope bridge and paintball at the beginning of each semester. Cadets who would like to join the Swamp Fox Organization must go through a physically and mentally challenging try-out cycle.

First Responder Career Prep

Firefighter/EMT Certification

The Alabama Fire College (AFC) has partnered with Marion Military Institute (MMI) to provide a means for career-ready courses to be included as an extracurricular course of study. Courses offered through the AFC Firefighter/EMT Certification are Emergency Care Provider, Certified Volunteer Fire Fighter, Block 1-Block 4, and the Emergency Medical Technician (EMT). This partnership provides MMI cadets who are interested in this type of training an avenue to enroll in these courses, while also enrolled in MMI’s associate degree program. Students who complete AFC courses are eligible to receive national certifications. Fees for this program are in addition to MMI’s tuition and fees.

Law Enforcement Career Prep

The Montgomery Police Department and the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office have partnered with Marion Military Institute to provide motivated cadets with the opportunity to learn, interact, and apply skills in Law Enforcement career fields while pursuing their Associate’s Degree.

• Dedicated Law Enforcement Instructors

• On-campus training

• State of the art equipment for skills enhancement

• Overview of the Criminal Justice career field

• Opportunities to interact with Law Enforcement Members