The Sabre
THE SABRE Magazine
Published by
RANDOLPH-MACON ACADEMY
200 Academy Drive Front Royal, VA 22630 540-636-5200 www.RMA.edu
Editor: Jenny Walton
Photography: Misti Walters, Jen Avery, and John Paul Glotfelty ‘22
BOARD
OF TRUSTEES
Ms. Lucy (Williams) Hooper Chair
Mr. John Simar ‘68 Vice Chair
Ms. Patty Keenan
Secretary
Mr. Alonzo Neese, III ‘01
Treasurer
Mr. Eric Anderson ‘88
Dr. Bill Bersing ‘85
Major General Mark A. Brown, USAF, Retired
Mr. John Demers
Mr. Chris Gabelle
Ms. Heather Grossman, P’16, ‘18, ‘21
Dr. Tess Hegedus
Mr. Doug Huthwaite ‘69
Dr. Margaret Konkel
The Hon. W. Revell Lewis, III ‘69
Mr. David Link ‘85
Mr. Ed Morris ‘97
Ms. Katie Tewell ‘97, P’22, ‘25
Ex-Officio Members
Mr. Bryan V. Moore ‘84
Ms. Kailyn Manseau, P’29
Rev. Dr. Victor Gomez
PRESIDENT
Brig Gen David C. Wesley, USAF, Retired
The Sabre is published for alumni, parents, and friends of the Academy. Send any comments or suggestions to: advancement@RMA.edu
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4
General’s Greetings
6
Rise Inside
Athletics Update: Swim & Track Victories
J-Term Internships
Cadet Pilots: Flying Solo
Dr. Mark Brown Named President of Tuskegee
Board Welcomes New Chair: Lucy (Williams) Hooper
Board Welcomes New Trustees: Now on Board
12
Feature Articles
Class of 2024 Commencement
Strategic Planning: The Road to Vision 2029
Homecoming & Reunions 2024
20
Rise Beyond
Lives of Meaning & Success: A Tribute to Tom Riley
Final Roll Call
GENERAL’S GREETINGS
Welcome to this latest edition of the Sabre!
Another remarkable academic year, the Academy’s 132nd, has ended in triumph, with the Class of 2024 securing $16M+ in scholarship offers, taking their place as our 17th consecutive class with 100% college acceptance! We placed two cadets at West Point and two at USAFA’s Prep School, along with nine Falcon Scholars who’re headed to Colorado Springs as well! Acceptances to UVA (5) and Virginia Tech (9) brought joy to parents’ faces at Graduation, along with those at William and Mary, Purdue, Texas A&M, The Citadel, VMI, NYU, Boston University, several acceptances in the California system, Georgia Tech, and many other great colleges and universities (see pages 12-14 to learn all about this year’s graduation celebration).
More than two years in the making by our entire faculty and staff, the new strategic plan, called “Strategic Vision 2029” (see pages 16-17), will be released to the public later this year and you’ll see that one of the values our faculty and staff selected is: “We look past now.” That’s a sentiment deeply woven through our 13 decades of service to the Republic and the world. Yellow Jackets are proud of their past and present, but they’re never satisfied with either – they drive on to the next objective, the next challenge, the next victory. And so it is with our Corps of Cadets this fall!
Having conducted a remarkable pivot to the Character and Leadership Development Program as juniors this past year, the rising seniors who will return to take the top leadership positions in our unit now have a clear Standard Operating Procedure with which to plan and execute operations in the 2024-25 academic year. You’ll see their
pride when the new video is released this summer, capturing the spirit, joy, and power of our Corps in having successfully designed and implemented what we call “R-MA 4.0”! You’ll also find the meticulous care of our staff in the re-designed webpage (already the standard by which our competitors’ digital presence is measured) and impressive new print materials that will be available to those who visit campus.
That’s what I urge you to do: come and see our cadets! Talk with them about the incredible journey they’re on, and see the remarkable work they and their teachers have done to make this year one we can all take great pride in.
Whether you come for Homecoming or at some other time, please talk with me or others on the staff about how we’ve made these changes possible. It has been a long pull, and all of us are excited about the future and the ways R-MA can continue to prepare new generations of young people to lead lives of meaning and success!
David C. Wesley Brigadier General, USAF, Retired President
RISE INSIDE
ATHLETICS UPDATE: SWIM & TRACK WINS
Yellow Jacket Swimming had a terrific 2023-24 season, with the Boys finishing 18-1 and Girls 16-3 - and they topped it off by taking home the Boys’ GPAC Championship and Girls’ Runners-Up titles!
Led by Coach Andy Harriman ‘82, the swim team gave their all at the GPAC Championships. The Boys’ team took home gold medals in the 100 Yard Freestyle, 100 Yard Breaststroke, 50 Yard Freestyle, 200 Yard Freestyle Relay, 200 Yard Medley Relay, and 400 Yard Freestyle Relay, plus silvers and bronzes in several other events. The Girls’ team finished strong with a silver in the 100 Yard Freestyle and bronzes in the 200 Yard Freestyle, 200 Yard Individual Medley, 100 Yard Butterfly, 200 Yard Medley Relay, 200 Yard Freestyle Relay, and 400 Yard Freestyle Relay. 13 swimmers turned in personal bests, with Renae Omondi ‘26 breaking the R-MA school record in the 100 Free - the fourth record she broke this season. “I’m so proud of this team,” said Coach Harriman. “They worked hard all season and the results show the effort!”
By far the most popular sport of the spring season, R-MA Track & Field was also strong this season, finishing 8th overall in VISAA. With the addition of high jump equipment for the team (made possible by a generous donation from Kevin and Tara Abikoff, P’27), two athletes even made it to the state finals: Bilal Kebbay ‘24, who took home a Bronze medal in the event, and Nolan Kirabo ‘27, with an 8th place finish. New for this year was the Middle School Track & Field Team; AJ Yoder ‘28 represented them in June at the New Balance National Outdoor Middle School Meet, where he finished in the top 20 for the 400M event! “We persevered as a team and won many individual and team victories,” said Coach Ott. “ I wish the members of this team all the best in each of their future endeavors. Always believe you can!”
J-TERM INTERNSHIPS
Every January, R-MA students and cadets have the opportunity to explore topics that fall outside the standard curriculum during J-Term, a special 3-week term following winter break. Classes offered during this time are designed to offer experiential, hands-on learning, encouraging creative thinking and giving students the chance to explore their passions and discover new ones.
In addition to the variety of classes offered this year, R-MA added a new option: internships! Participating students had the opportunity to explore a potential career field - whether they were based locally, across the country, or around the world. They also created capstone presentations to share what they learned with the community at the J-Term Symposium in Melton Gym.
The 21 participating juniors and seniors completed internships at the following institutions:
• Annandale Millwork & Allied Systems
• Awash Bank
• Bald Eagle, Inc.
• Broken Men Foundation
• Elon Aviation
• Ervin Engineering Co.
• Fujian Naichun Real Estate Group
• Ganzhou Meike Testing Technology
• Genesis Health Clubs
• Harris Stowe State University
• Oregon Health & Science University
• Palo Alto Polo Club
• Papua New Guinea Tribal Foundation
• Public Affairs Office, US Naval Forces Central Command HQ-Bahrain
• Public Diplomacy Section, Embassy in Madagascar & Comoros
• Reinarts Stained Glass Studio
• Shanghai Huazheng Co., Ltd.
• Smart Direction, Ukraine
• U-Wing Aviation Technology
• Warren County Fire Department
CADET PILOTS: FLYING SOLO
Since the purchase of the Academy’s first plane in 1985, the Aviation Program has helped R-MA cadets make their dreams of flight a reality - and this spring, several R-MA cadets earned their wings! After completing his first solo flight on his 16th birthday in May of 2023, Cole Sauvager ‘25 (above left) successfully passed both an oral exam and checkride to earn his private pilot’s license in May of this year, just a few days after his 17th birthday! Two R-MA cadets also completed solo flights this spring: Yunmeng Cui ‘24 (the first female international student to do so since 2016, above center) and Grant Goncharuk ‘26 (above right).
DR. MARK BROWN NAMED PRESIDENT OF TUSKEGEE
Tuskegee University has named a current R-MA trustee, Major General Dr. Mark A. Brown, USAF, Retired, as its 10th President and Chief Executive Officer! Dr. Brown joined the R-MA Board of Trustees in 2023 and plans to continue his service in addition to his new role at Tuskegee.
An alumnus of Tuskegee, Dr. Brown was commissioned through its Air Force ROTC program in 1986. He is the retired Deputy Commander of Air Education and Training Command, Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas. Following his 32-year career in the Air Force, he served as Chief Operating Officer for the US Department of Education Office of Federal Student Aid, and subsequently the Executive Director of the Student Freedom Initiative. Dr. Brown holds a PhD in Education from Baylor University, a Masters in Public Administration from Troy University, a Masters of Strategic Studies from the Air Command and Staff College, and a Masters in National Security Strategy from the National War College.
BOARD WELCOMES NEW CHAIR LUCY (WILLIAMS) HOOPER
The June meeting of the Randolph-Macon Academy Board of Trustees saw the handoff of leadership from one chair to another.
Outgoing chair Mr. Harry G. Austin, III ‘75 has served more than 27 years on the Board of Trustees, first from 1982-1993, and then again from 2008-2024. His tenure includes the Academy’s return to in-person operations following the COVID-19 pandemic, an accreditation visit from the Virginia Association of Independent Schools (which the Academy passed with flying colors), and the development of the next iteration of R-MA’s strategic plan, Vision 2029 (see pages 16-17 for more information).
Moving into the role of Chair is Mrs. Lucy (Williams) Hooper
Even most alumni cannot claim as long a connection with R-MA as Hooper’s - her parents were Colonel Arvin S. Williams, USAF, Retired (he served in various teaching and coaching positions from 1948-1968, and as President of the Academy from 1969-1978) and Mrs. Emma Williams (R-MA’s registrar when they married in 1950, as well as secretary to then-R-MA President, Col. John C. Boggs). It is not an exaggeration to say that Hooper grew up on campus!
An economics major and Phi Beta Kappa graduate of RandolphMacon Woman’s College (now Randolph College), she went on to the world of finance, beginning her career at First & Merchants National Bank (now Bank of America) in Richmond in 1973 and moving to Davenport & Company in 1981 as an institutional bond salesman (the firm’s first female broker). She remains at Davenport & Company today as Executive Vice President and Director of Fixed Income, a role she has held since 2000. She is also a former board member and chair of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB). Hooper served on the Randolph College Board of Trustees from 2000-2012, including five years as Chair, as well as the Randolph College Alumni Association in multiple leadership roles. She has also served as a director of the Virginia United Methodist Foundation and as a trustee for the Children’s Museum of Richmond. She has served on the R-MA Board of Trustees since 2013.
The Randolph-Macon Academy Board of Trustees is a collaborative body that aims to foster positive, supportive relationships for the betterment of the school’s mission and financial health. R-MA is proud of the collective experience, enthusiasm, and diligence of each trustee (see pages 10-11 to learn about the newest members of the Board). For more information about the Board of Trustees, visit www. RMA.edu/about/board.
TRUSTEES WELCOME NEW MEMBERS
NOW ON BOARD
MR. JOHN DEMERS
Mr. Demers serves as the corporate secretary for The Boeing Company, as well as vice president and assistant general counsel for Finance & Strategy and Environmental & Enterprise Operations, where he oversees legal matters relating to corporate governance and securities filings, mergers and acquisitions, sustainability and environment, health and safety, and cybersecurity. In 2021, he returned to Boeing after serving as assistant attorney general for National Security at the US Department of Justice under both Presidents Trump and Biden. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in political science from the College of the Holy Cross and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School, and has served as an adjunct professor of national security law at the Georgetown University Law Center.
MR. CHRIS GABELLE
Mr. Gabelle is the parent of both a current R-MA student (Francis ‘27)and an R-MA graduate (JJ Banek-Gabelle ‘21, now at the US Coast Guard Academy). He currently serves as a Senior Social Protection Specialist for the World Bank in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where he is based in Kinshasa. His extensive experience in international development and fragile/conflict-affected countries includes senior management and technical roles with the United Kingdom Department for International Development in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone, Uganda, and Liberia; as well as additional roles at the World Bank, United Nations, and European Union in West Africa, including Deputy Head of Office for the United Kingdom’s response to the West African Ebola Outbreak (Sierra Leone, 2014-2016). He holds a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Economics and Management, as well as a Master of Science in Tropical Agricultural Development, both from the University of Reading in Reading, United Kingdom.
THE HONORABLE W. REVELL LEWIS, III ‘69
Judge Lewis recently retired after serving 12 years as a Circuit Court Judge in Virginia’s Second Circuit. A 1969 graduate of R-MA, he holds a Bachelor of Science from Washington & Lee University and a Juris Doctor from the T.C. Williams School of Law, University of Richmond. Prior to his appointment to the bench in 2011, he served as a partner at Custis, Lewis & Dix LLP in Accomac. He has served in leadership roles on several boards of directors, including Shore Health Services Inc., the Eastern Shore Community Foundation, Farmers and Merchants Bank, Broadwater Academy, and Virginia United Methodist Homes, Inc. Judge Lewis is also a lifelong member of Grace United Methodist Church, where he is Chairman of the Board of Trustees. He and his wife Lisa have two children and six grandchildren.
DR. MARGARET KONKEL
Dr. Konkel is an Associate Professor, MFA Design Thinking and Program Coordinator for the Interior Design Program at Radford University. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Modern Language and Literature from the College of William and Mary, an MFA in Interior Design from the Academy of Art University, and an Individual Interdisciplinary PhD from Montana State University. Her scholarly research focuses on the pedagogy of design thinking in higher education, especially as related to interdisciplinary wicked problemsolving. She is LEED AP and NCIDQ certified with over twelve years of commercial interior design practice. Dr. Konkel is the daughter of former R-MA trustee, Mr. William G. Thomas ‘57, who passed away in 2020, and his wife Mrs. Suzanne Thomas, a longtime friend of the Academy.
MS. KAILYN MANSEAU
Ms. Manseau is a current R-MA parent (Connor ‘29) and the incoming Parents’ Association President for the 2024-25 academic year. A Program Specialist for the Office of International Visitors at the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the State Department, her work supports the International Visitor Leadership Program. Previously, she worked as an International Program Specialist for the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, working with the US Army’s Foreign Area Officer Program at the George C. Marshall Center in Garmisch, Germany, where she was charged with the coordination of training programs in Europe and Eurasia. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Organizational Security Management and a Graduate Certificate in Intelligence Analysis from Johns Hopkins. She lives in Front Royal with her husband Brandon (US Army, Retired) and their two children.
The Board of Trustees, June 2024. Front row, left to right: Alonzo Neese ‘01; Meg Konkel; Patty Keenan; Ed Morris ‘97; Heather Grossman P’16, ‘18, ‘21; Kailyn Manseau P’29; Lucy (Williams) Hooper; Dr. Tess Hegedus. Back row, left to right: Mark Brown; Doug Huthwaite ‘69; Rev. Victor Gomez; Bill Bersing ‘85; David Link ‘85; Bryan Moore ‘84; Revell Lewis ‘69; Harry Austin ‘75; John Simar ‘68. Not pictured: Eric Anderson ‘88; Brian Bogart; John Demers; Katie Tewell ‘97, P’22, ‘25.
CLASS OF 2024 COMMENCEMENT
On Saturday, May 25, the 64 members of the Class of 2024 became Randolph-Macon Academy’s newest graduates.
Brigadier General Wesley addressed the audience of graduates, faculty, families, and friends, welcoming them to his “favorite day of the school year...Our seniors have made it...here they are to accept the most valuable credential we can convey -an R-MA diploma - ready to go on to lives of meaning and success.”
He acknowledged the hard work the Class of 2024 put into the developing the new Corps of Cadets under the Character and Leadership Development Program. “Their work is a genuine and lasting legacy for the cadets who will follow in their footsteps...this class will be able to say for all time, ‘We built it, and we charted the path first.’”
In conclusion, he welcomed all to “celebrate a moment that will forever signal the closing of one door...and the opening of so many more.”
Class of 2024 Valedicatorian Carver Bull: “Stand back up.”
Following General Wesley, Valedictorian Carver Bull ‘24 began with remarks on how R-MA has changed since his arrival on campus in 2020.
“Like the ship of Theseus, this boat feels totally different from when we first embarked on our journey...It’d be selfish and hypocritical to want to keep everything the same forever. In fact, all of these changes are good, and it’s a good thing that we’re leaving, because the wheels of progress progress...to never leave, never change, never evolve would be a tragedy.”
“You’re meant to fail. You’re built to fail, but that’s how we get stronger.”
VALEDICTORIAN CARVER BULL ‘24
Dr. Stephen Mansfield on Overcoming Adversity
General Wesley introduced keynote speaker Dr. Stephen Mansfield, New York Times best-selling author, entrepreneur, and popular speaker on topics including leadership, manhood, and a host of other contemporary issues. Dr. Mansfield’s focus for the Class of 2024: how enduring and overcoming hardship and adversity builds character.
The Class of 2024, he noted, endured more challenges than most, first with the COVID-19 pandemic, and then in developing the new Corps of Cadets under the Character and Leadership Development Program, and the ongoing difficult political and economic climate. “If you’re watching this class closely, they are not normal,” he said. “These people have walked through an exceptional high school career because they are called, they are chosen, they are destined to be exceptional people.”
Reflecting on what he’s learned during his time at R-MA, he said, “Giving up is not natural. Apathy is an abomination. You have to challenge yourself in order to evolve and become a better person, because you’re meant to rise up to every challenge. You’re meant to fail. You’re built to fail, but that’s how we get stronger.”
He concluded by urging his classmates: “The battle is ahead of you, and it always will be. Victory will always feel just out of reach, but despite that, persevere. Stand up to every challenge that comes your way. Stand back up every time you’re knocked down, because that’s what the Power of Rise is all about.”
Scan this QR code to watch the recording of Commencement!
He recalled some of the great leaders of history who became so because they endured and overcame incredible hardship and adversity, including Winston Churchill (“A mess? Yes. Greatness? Yes, because that’s how it works.”), and John Wesley (“A great man, he preached the Gospel all over the British Isles...they tried to kill him.”).
“When I look out upon this class,” he continued, “I think of them in terms of future heroes who are being fashioned now by the hardship and the difficulty...what you’ve got to do is kick those hardships in the teeth. Remember what R-MA taught you. Remember what you learned here...go forth and live the R-MA legacy in its fullest possible sense. Know that hardship will come, and that you will be propelled by it.”
$16 MILLION IN COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIPS
11 SERVICE ACADEMY APPOINTMENTS
9
UNITED STATES AIR FORCE ACADEMY APPOINTMENTS
2 AIR FORCE ROTC COMMANDER’S SCHOLARSHIPS
2
UNITED STATES MILITARY ACADEMY APPOINTMENTS
1 ARMY ROTC SCHOLARSHIP
STRATEGIC PLANNING
THE ROAD TO VISION 2029
What is Vision 2029?
Vision 2029 is the pinnacle of R-MA’s ongoing strategic planning process. Developed over two years and united by values, meaning, and purpose, the priorities and strategies of Vision 2029 will serve as a roadmap for R-MA’s future, guiding the Academy to success and ensuring that R-MA will continue to inspire the Rise within and make leaders who will improve humanity.
What does Vision 2029 address?
Vision 2029 sets ambitious 5-year goals for all facets of the Academy: academics, cadet and student life, faculty and staff development and retention, financial sustainability, campus and facilities maintenance and improvements, and more.
How was Vision 2029 developed?
The process began in August 2022 under the leadership of outgoing Board Chairman Harry Austin ‘75, trustee and former R-MA Academic Dean Dr. Tess Hegedus, and R-MA President Brigadier General Wesley. Through a series of full-day meetings over the next year, a strategic planning team (comprised of senior R-MA leaders from all departments) identified the strategic priorities Vision 2029 addresses. R-MA faculty and staff then participated in multiple working group discussions for each priority, providing insight and feedback to help the team refine Vision 2029 and identify the actions required to bring it to life. With the draft completed, the full Board of Trustees reviewed and approved Vision 2029 at their June 2024 meeting, and it will be rolled out to the R-MA community this fall.
What role does the R-MA community play in strategic planning?
Because strategic planning is an ongoing, continual process at R-MA, all members of our community play a part. Here’s a look at how each section of the community contributes:
Board of Trustees
Sets long-term strategic goals, allocates resources accordingly, and regularly evaluates progress
President & Senior Staff
Develop and implement short-term goals and plans to achieve long-term goals, continually evaluating progress and making adjustments as needed.
Faculty & Staff
Operationalize the plan and provide feedback to President & Senior Staff, informing adjustments to the plan and shaping future long-term strategic goals.
Students & Cadets, Alumni, Parents, Friends
Offer ongoing feedback on the R-MA experience and how it could be improved, informing adjustments to the plan and shaping future long-term strategic goals.
HOMECOMING & REUNIONS
October 18-19, 2024
RISE TOGETHER
EVENT SCHEDULE
Registration Opens
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18 / 1:00 PM
Sonner-Payne Cross Hall
Cadet-Led Campus Tour
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18 / 1:15 - 2:00 PM
Sonner-Payne Cross Hall
R-MA 4.0 Update
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18 / 2:00 - 3:00 PM
Moore Enterprise & Leadership Laboratory, Sonner-Payne Hall
Receive an update on the Academy from Board Chair Lucy Hooper and General Wesley!
Boggs Chapel Rededication
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18 / 3:00 - 4:00 PM
Boggs Chapel
Celebrate the 60th Anniversary of Boggs Chapel with a special service led by Chaplain Monica Reynolds!
Alumni Celebration Dinner
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18 / 6:00 - 9:00 PM
Shenandoah Valley Golf Club
Visit with classmates and friends and celebrate R-MA! $75/person, tickets must be purchased in advance.
Registration Opens
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19 / 10:00 AM
Homecoming Tent, Riddick Field
Community Coffee Hour
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19 / 10:00 - 11:00 AM
Homecoming Tent, Riddick Field
R-MA alumni, parents, faculty, staff, and friends are welcome! Enjoy coffee and donuts, courtesy of the Alumni and Parents Associations.
Homecoming Memorial Parade
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19 / 11:00 -11:45 AM
Riddick Field
Honor R-MA’s fallen and celebrate her future. All alumni are invited to fall in and form the alumni flight to march across the field at the conclusion of the parade!
Homecoming Lunch
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19 / 11:45 AM - 12:30 PM
Homecoming Tent, Riddick Field
Visit with classmates, faculty, staff, and friends and enjoy a delicious cookout lunch! Lunch $10/person, tickets must be purchased in advance.
Alumni Association Meeting
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19 / 12:00 PM - 12:30 PM
Homecoming Tent, Riddick Field
Join for an update on the Alumni Association’s activities and to vote in the officers for 2024-25.
Homecoming Football Game
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19 / 1:30 PM
Riddick Field
Join us at 1:30 for Senior Night and Pre-Game Ceremonies, then cheer on the Yellow Jackets in the Homecoming Game! Kickoff at 2:00pm.
4’s & 9’s are celebrating milestone reunions this year! Contact your class ambassador for details on reunion events .
QUANTICO WARRIORS
To complete your registration, see who’s coming, and get info on accommodations, visit: www.RMA.edu/homecoming
RISE BEYOND
LIVES OF MEANING
& SUCCESS
A TRIBUTE TO TOM RILEY
WRITTEN BY R-MA PRESIDENT
BRIGADIER GENERAL DAVID C. WESLEY, USAF, RET
My left boot strikes the ground as I step from the F-150, and I close my eyes for the brief prayer that has become my morning ritual on arrival to campus during these long months of the pandemic: “Lord, please don’t let me do anything today that can hurt my wife.” This, because the doctors have told us that she is immuno-compromised, and my careless failure with my mask or maintaining sufficient distance from others could lead to my bringing home the virus that would potentially be life-threatening to my wonderful wife of 25 years.
I shoulder my backpack and start around the back side of Sonner-Payne Hall where the steps lead up into the cross-hall, the centerpiece of daily life on the ground floor of this grand building which is now
almost 100 years old. It is early, and the light streaming from the stairwell window is my beacon to guide the walk up to the entryway. I smile as I see the daily constant of these walks: a man stands in the second-floor window, looking up into the stairwell. He is gesturing and he may be shouting. He glances out the window and waves to me. I grin and wave back - it’s my colleague and friend, Tom Riley. He’s been up all night watching over the boys who sleep in SonnerPayne, and now he’s grousing at them to get down those stairs in the right uniform and over to Turner Hall for breakfast.
Stepping into the building, I realize he’s not really shouting...it’s more of a gruff growl toward this student, or a joke to that one. A brief comment about
a uniform correction or a reminder of something the cadet needs to remember to do today. This scene having been repeated nearly every day in my first five years on “The Hill”, I’ve come to realize that Tom’s approach is precisely what these young leaders need as they begin their day of study, exercise, and most importantly, another step toward growing into the young men they will soon become.
Tom’s like me: an Air Force veteran, having been a security policeman and later a security forces member (the name adopted by Defenders later in our careers). I believe he’s about my age, but that’s vanity; I later learn that Tom was 11 years my senior. The shared experience of Air Force service is a powerful bond between us, despite the age difference. We both grew up under supervisors who taught us that “if you were on time, you were LATE.” I admired Tom all the more when I learned that he was part of that remarkable generation of Airmen who’d served in Vietnam; they had a legendary courage and fierce determination to serve a country that, in too many cases, did not appreciate them when they came home. Our common heritage became a routine topic for our discussions and I grew to see Tom as the embodiment of the NCOs who’d helped to raise me as a young lieutenant in the 1980’s - men who knew the hard truths young officers had not been issued with the gold bars they wore on their shoulders.
Having completed an Air Force career and a stint with the Department of Corrections, Tom was in his 19th year as an R-MA Cadet Life Supervisor when people began to die from this strange new virus. Like so many other changes, Tom seemed to take the new rules in stride, working hard to keep the boys safe and on schedule each day, so seeing him in that stairwell became one of the bellwethers of my day.
We have come, in the course of my time at the Academy, to tell the world that we prepare young people for lives of meaning and success. It is a simple
sentence that conveys a great deal in a few words. We teach and train and exercise in one of the most contentious times in the history of our Republic. We accept children from all over the world, from wealthy families and from those who are without the funds even to pay for a student expense account. Our students are Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, Jews, atheists, and many other faith groups. They come from political systems like ours and from governments that are at war with the governments of their classmates - and still, we pray in one Chapel, eat in the same dining hall, and we cheer for the Yellow Jackets when they take the field or the court. In these ways, we are so much like those who lived and studied here for the past 13 decades. We are trying to grow up and get better at life, so that we can, individually and collectively, live lives of meaning and success.
For me, guys like Tom Riley are the sort of model I have patterned myself after throughout my military career and now here at R-MA. Tom gets it. He knows the task and goes about it with an intensity and seriousness that tells most people that he means to win this day, this effort, this conversation - and he almost always does. I think to myself as I walk to my office that the boys love Tom. He’s tough on them, but they come to see that the gruffness is his way of showing his love and care for them. Tom cares ENOUGH to correct their uniforms or to prod them to hurry up when they’re still sleepy. He wants for each of them what he always has: a sense of purpose and direction...things that can help them lead lives of meaning and success!
COVID stretches on and on. It even seems to be getting worse in this “new” COVID year of 2021. The vaccine has been available for a few months when school begins again and we’re proud that we’ve stayed open and in-person for classes since returning in the fall of 2020. No one in our small community has had a “bad” case of the illness, and R-MA has been largely unscathed (if growing pretty tired of the masks and
shots). But outside our campus community, there are now deaths and they are mounting. Eventually, I mandate that employees receive the vaccine unless they request a waiver for medical or faith reasons. A few of these requests are made and all are granted, but there are those who believe the vaccine is dangerous or morally wrong to accept and, to my sadness, some of those people choose to leave. Tom tells me he will soon be one of those - he loves working at R-MA, but believes I was wrong to make the vaccine mandatory, and I’m filled with the sadness of knowing my friend will leave us because of a decision I’ve made.
Within a day or so, he’s back. “I can’t stand it. I love it here and I’ll get the vaccine, so I can stay,” he says. I believe Tom got the vaccine that week, but on the following Saturday, his grandson came to visit him for the weekend and Tom contracted COVID-19. He would soon be hospitalized and battle the virus for about two weeks until October 5, 2021, when like too many others around the world, Tom Riley passed away.
Tom’s family asked us to fully support his funeral, and several of us went to a Winchester funeral home for his memorial service. His family fills the first several rows and there’s a lot of crying. I am grateful to see past employees of the Academy in the crowd, and then our Chaplain begins the service. Josh Orndorff speaks kindly of a man he knew and respected. Then he calls on the Cadet Corps Chaplain to read a scripture passage, followed by the Corps Commander. These are young men who slept safely under Tom’s guardianship and their words are powerful to me. I make brief remarks as well and then, with the rest of the R-MA Honor Guard provided for this event, the crowd moves outside to await the arrival of the coffin on the most amazing conveyance I’ve ever seen at a funeral: Tom has asked to be carried to his final resting place inside a glass hearse pulled by a motorcycle. No one who knows Tom is surprised at
this selection, but there’s a shortage of men to carry the coffin to the hearse...it is not clear whether the pallbearers are absent or if there is a communication error, but several of us assemble informally and load the coffin into the hearse.
We drive in a solemn procession across town to the Mount Hebron Cemetery and the funeral party assembles beside the grave. It is clear that, again, there are not people assigned carry the coffin forward, so then-Commandant Lt Col Mike Starling, USMC (Ret) ‘88, several of the Honor Guard cadets, and I carry Tom to his grave. It is simultaneously one of the saddest and proudest moments I have ever experienced. Tom worked so hard. He defended our country and guarded our boys while they slept. He cajoled and counseled hundreds of them with his unique brand of humor and discipline. He stood in that window by the stairwell for thousands of mornings, giving so many of us one more indication that today would be a good day at R-MA.
In the ways he lived and loved and worked and died: Tom Riley lived a life of meaning and success. We miss you, Tom, and we remember what you taught us.
FINAL ROLL CALL
Since the publication of the last issue of The Sabre, we have received notification that the following members of the Randolph-Macon Academy family have passed away. They are greatly missed, and they will remain in our hearts forever.
(Please note: Notifications received after June 30, 2024 are not included in this list.)
Rowland M. Hussey ‘41 March 28, 2020
Robert D. White ‘41 July 13, 2021
Louis E. Chapin ‘42 December 14, 2018
John E. Hershey ‘44 November 2021
Frederick L. Silbernagel, Jr. ‘46 December 22, 2020
Wilbert J. Robertson, Jr. ‘46 February 8, 2022
Quinton T. Martin, Jr. ‘49 June 24, 2023
Joseph W. Bierer ‘49 December 25, 2017
William W. Cooke ‘51 November 26, 2023
Hartwell F. Chandler, Jr. ‘54 March 18, 2023
Rene C. Ellis ‘54 May 7, 2023
Richard H. Hoagland, Jr. ‘58 October 20, 2023
Charlie C. Boomer ‘59 April 3, 2024
Johnnie J. Booker, III ‘62 January 25, 2024
Henry H. Downing, Jr. ‘63 March 10, 2024
Peter H. P. Conrad ‘64 July 2, 2020
Mark R. Davis ‘65 September 12, 2023
Bruce Flory ‘65 April 20, 2024
James B. Soper ‘65 April 2, 2024
Walter K. Johnson, Jr. ‘66 May 30, 2023
Jeffrey L. Philbrook ‘68 January 20, 2024
David E. Weaver ‘88 March 27, 2024
Christopher M. Hershman ‘94 December 22, 2023
Sylvio Brutus Former R-MA Teacher & Coach May 27, 2024
Brenda J. Mieth February 11, 2024
The Sabre
RANDOLPH-MACON ACADEMY
200 Academy Drive
Front Royal, Virginia 22630
For parents: if this issue is addressed to your son or daughter who no longer lives at home, please notify R-MA of the new mailing address at 540-636-5206 or at advancement@RMA.edu.
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