Volume 3, Issue 1 • March 2020
A LETTER FROM AA PRESIDENT JENKINS I’m Hunter Jenkins ’85, president of the Alumni Association Board of Directors for 2019-20. I’m a legacy cadet of Lynn Jenkins ’57. I’m the proud father of five children (one of which passed away): Danielle, 31; Hunter II, 27; Christopher, 20; and Denver, 17. I’m divorced and live in Arkansas. After graduation, I kicked around for a couple years and then decided to pursue my passion and become a funeral director and embalmer. I graduated with an Associate of Arts in mortuary science from Northwest Mississippi Community College. Now, I live in Greenbrier, Arkansas, where I’m the logistic specialist for Roller Funeral Homes. In my spare time, I enjoy riding my Harley-Davidson trike and getting outdoors. I occasionally pick up a golf club, but age and ailments have pretty much gotten the best of me with that. I’m proud to be able to serve you as president of the BOD . On Dec. 6, the Board of Trustees (BOT) invited some of the BOD officers to attend a BOT meeting. This was a historic event as the BOD has never been invited to attend before. Those in attendance were Hunter Jenkins ’85, Kurt Bilsel ’81 and Jason Falbo-Gwinn ’88. Gregg Center ’90 attended via phone. We were invited to observe the BOT and how it works to position MMA for the next 130
Volume 3, Issue 1 • March 2020
years. You can rest assured that the Academy is on solid financial footing and that our BOT is working diligently to ensure that MMA’s strategic future is solid and forging ahead. MMA will continue to be an institution that takes young boys and shapes them into confident, positive and contributing forces in the world. Iron sharpens iron! At the BOT meeting, we were asked why there seems to be a disconnect between MMA and its alumni. Among the reasons was that the Academy leadership was slow to embrace the computer age. We discussed how alumni have felt that previous administrations didn’t keep in contact with them, which has caused some to not donate nor return to MMA. Fortunately, we have seen great strides in reversing this stigma with the appointment of our new president, Brig. Gen. Geraci, a fellow military school cadet; he attended and graduated from NMMI. If you have not been back to the 65265 in some time, I would challenge you to come to homecoming this year, which will be held Sept. 18-20, and see for yourself. During the meeting, we were also asked what MMA means to us and how it has affected our lives. We emphasized that it was more than just a school — it was our home during our
formative years. For the four-plus-year cadets, it raised them from teens to young men. We explained how some refer to MMA as the “mother ship” because when we graduated from it, we felt like we were leaving home. The way we described our relationship with the Academy very much resonated with the BOT. We also addressed how we at the Alumni Association can align ourselves with the BOT. One way included continuing efforts to become a driving force for meeting MMA’s strategic plan though alumni donation of time, talent and treasure. You can view the plan by clicking here. We discussed having a BOT and BOD liaison; our goal is for the BOD to have a permanent seat on the BOT in order to observe and give input on behalf of all alumni and the brotherhood. This is a long way off due to numerous hoops to jump through. Above all, we need to continue showing the BOT that we cherish and love our alma mater and that we will continue to strive for alignment with the direction and goals of MMA. The future looks bright, brothers, but these changes are not going to happen overnight. However, being invited to not only attend the meeting but also sit at the meeting table was a positive step in the right direction. I challenge each of you to become engaged and involved with our alma mater. Time, talent, treasure, Hunter Jenkins ’85 President Alumni Board of Directors, 2019-20