CORPS OF CADETS
FEMALE LEADERS: Spring semester battalion commanders were (from left) Claudia McCarthy, Eleanor Verburg, and Skyler Powell.
STRONG, DRIVEN WOMEN “I have selected 20 battalion commanders over the years,” said Lt. Col. Don Russell, deputy commandant for 2nd Battalion. “Roughly half of those commanders happen to be women. Strong, driven women of character have been integral to the fabric of this corps for decades.” Female cadets comprised 20 percent of the corps’ Class of 2022 and were selected for half of the top leadership positions. Most notably, all three battalions within the regiment were commanded by women. That did not come as a surprise to them, though. 14 | DRILLFIELD | CORPS OF CADETS
“We’ve been given these jobs all along, so it was not a surprise when we were selected for battalion command [or any other position],” said Skyler Powell ’22, the spring semester’s 3rd Battalion commander. “You notice it, and then you move on.” Powell graduated with a degree in philosophy, politics, and economics. Eleanor Verburg, who commanded 1st Battalion this spring, agreed. “My goal was to succeed in whatever position I was in. I never felt there was a job in the corps that I wasn’t qualified to fill,” said Verburg, a civil engineering major who will graduate in December. Second Battalion’s spring semester commander, Claudia McCarthy, a building construction major who will graduate in December, had been interested in attending the U.S. Naval Academy but fell in
love with the people at Virginia Tech when she visited campus. “I never really thought about being labeled as a woman in the corps or took it into account.” Capt. Jamie McGrath, director of the corps’ Rice Center for Leader Development, said it’s important to have people of varied backgrounds in command positions. “We need diversity in leadership for diversity in thought,” McGrath said. “Each of these leaders brings a unique perspective that makes the whole organization better.” The corps will welcome an equally diverse leadership team for the fall semester, which includes its 10th female regimental commander. Denise Shuster ’88 became the first in 1987. Katie Mallory is the communications director for the Corps of Cadets.
KATIE MALLORY
FORTY-NINE YEARS AGO, WOMEN blazed a trail into the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets. As Virginia Tech marks its 100th anniversary of female students, those trailblazers from L Squadron can celebrate.
