Class Notes
Class of 2015: Class Agent Johnny McDonald said of this photo, “Nicole Blixt, Erica Putney, Sarah Putney and Kirsten Hancock, who all played women’s soccer, enjoyed catching up with the rest of the class at the one-year reunion. Nicole recently got her master’s in physiology from Georgetown University, Erica works with the VMI Alumni Association as the program outreach coordinator, Sarah works for the Department of Justice and Kirsten recently started working at the Court of Appeals.” I cannot confirm nor deny that. I know a lot of people were unable to attend due to work commitments, but I hope that in future years we are able to include more of the class. We had 67 people registered and a few last-minute attendees. This was the second year the VMI Alumni Association put on a one-year reunion, and we (obviously) blew 2014 out of the water with our participation. Everyone in attendance had a great time catching up with one another and enjoyed the perks of being an alumnus. Will Connerley led the Old Yells and crawled up the side of the sentinel box like a little monkey. He really showed up the other classes in attendance. Women’s soccer also made a big showing at the reunion and taught the rest of us how to enjoy fine wines when we ran out of beer. We are all so much more cultured now. Thank you to everyone who came out! I had fun seeing members of the class at the reunion, and I look forward to the next time we get the opportunity to get together. A special thanks to the VMI Alumni Association for hosting the event, Doug Warner ’03 for all he did guiding me through the reunion (and finding us more beer!), and Erica Putney for all her help setting up and coordinating activities. As far as military accomplishments, Nick Dwyer graduated Ranger School in September, and Nina Srikongyos graduated pre-Ranger in June. Congrats to both of them! I know there are a lot more people doing grand things in the military.
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Class of 2015: Isaac Copes, Clay White, Nick Dreybus, Nick Maul, Johnny McDonald, Anthony Harvey, Blake McCauley, Frank Hargrove, Hayden Whetstone, Sarah Putney, Erica Putney, Henry Meredith, Kirsten Hancock, Matthew O’Brien, Sam Hunter, Will Jordan, Nicole Blixt, Quinn Ellis, Michael Kaim, Chris Gray and Connor McMahon enjoyed a cool beverage at Moody Hall in celebration of their one-year reunion.
Shoot me a quick Facebook message anytime something exciting happens so we can update the class. It’s not bragging if I do it for you... Also, we had some brother rats get married recently. Drew Craighead married Chandler Nicole Verhoven. There were a handful of our classmates in attendance and spoke highly of the event. Jon Winters married Jill Angela Kiefer. Spencer Buettner married Jessica Woodall. If anyone else was recently married or had children (I’m keeping my eye on you, Mike Prifti), please send me the information so we can congratulate you. I would encourage everyone to take pictures of any events you may attend with our BRs and send them my way. Our class already does much better at keeping up and socializing than most young classes; let’s do our part to let the VMI family know how much fun we are having out there. Please feel free to reach out to me any time you want to catch up or need help communicating with our class. I know not everyone has a Facebook or follows the class page, but I really want to do what I can to make sure I am reaching everyone in the class. If emails or phone calls would be better (I’m open to other suggestions), please let me know. Additionally, updated contact information (address, email, phone numbers, etc.) are important and should be sent to me so I can update our class records. As always, keep doing big things, 2015! Whole damn team, Johnny
2016
Jacob Norris Patrick Hine
Just a few notes this time around. First off, we want to formally welcome Savannah Rae Thompson, born May 6, 2016, and congratulate Evan and Kassandra for their beautiful baby girl. Also wanted to give a shot out to BR Rob Dewolf, who hiked Mount Kilimanjaro with his father in September and took an awesome picture at the top. The first few members of our class have started Ranger School, and I’m sure they would love to hear from anyone who is willing to send letters. Good luck, and keep pushing to all those in training and heading to their first duty stations. For those on the civilian side, we hope you are getting settled in to your work life and finding life much more enjoyable than our time at the “I.” Take care.
VMI Alumni Review