19 minute read
On Post
Young Named VMI Chief of Staff
Lt. Col. John Young.—Photo courtesy of the Department of Defense.
Maj. Gen. Cedric Wins ’85, superintendent, named Dr. J.M. “John” Young to be Virginia Military Institute’s next chief of staff in September 2021. Young was most recently chief of staff and vice chair for administration/ assistant professor in the Department of Preventative Medicine and Biostatistics at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences’ F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine, U.S. Department of Defense.
“Doctor Young brings a strong academic, management, and leadership background to VMI,” said Wins. “His service as a U.S. Marine, in the defense industry, and his higher education experience have prepared him well for the rigors of the Virginia Military Institute, and I am looking forward to his fresh perspective.”
Young earned a Doctor of Professional Studies in Information Management degree from Syracuse University School of Information Studies, an executive master’s in leadership from the Georgetown University McDonough School of Business, a Bachelor of Science degree in health systems administration from the University of Maryland Global Campus, and a master teacher professional development certificate from the George Washington University School of Medicine.
He taught courses in leadership, research methods, health care management, and quality at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and the George Washington University, where he held joint faculty appointments in clinical research and leadership at the School of Medicine and in epidemiology and biostatistics at the Milken Institute of Public Health. As a civil servant, Young was a senior advisor and policy analyst at the Department of Health and Human Services for over a decade. He served four years as a public member, Board of Directors, Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy. Young also served as a U.S. Marine Corps reservist.
“I am honored to be the next chief of staff at Virginia Military Institute,” Young said. “Major General Wins has put forth a bold vision for VMI through his ‘One Corps—One VMI: A Unifying Action Plan.’ I am excited to join the Institute’s faculty, staff, and cadets in continuing to move VMI forward as one of the nation’s top institutions of higher education.”
Young began his responsibilities as chief of staff Sept. 20. VMI’s chief of staff is responsible for coordination, control, and integration of Institute priorities and issues. The chief of staff oversees VMI’s operations, financial aid, admissions, and communications and marketing efforts.
Young is originally from Chicago, Illinois, and currently resides in Washington, D.C., with his wife, Erie, and German shepherd, Luna. Young is an active member of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc.
Baur Exercise Physiology Lab Dedicated
By Kelly Nye, VMI Communications & Marketing
Family legacies at VMI are not uncommon, but most of them involve graduating from the Institute, passing down the family uniform, or even living in the same barracks room. The Baurs have a more direct legacy, one that impacts VMI academically and physically. A member of the family has taught a course on exercise physiology since 1989.
“It’s our family business,” said Maj. Dan Baur, Ph.D., assistant professor of physical education. “More specifically, it’s our business to teach exercise physiology at VMI.”
Now, that legacy will be honored with the newly named Thomas S. Baur Exercise Physiology Laboratory in Cormack Hall.
The late Thomas “Tom” Baur ’75 graduated from VMI in 1975 with a degree in biology. He commissioned into the U.S. Army and served two years on active duty, primarily stationed in Korea. He then pursued a master’s degree in exercise physiology at West Virginia University, finished it at Purdue University, and eventually returned to VMI to teach biology in 1988. With Baur’s background in exercise physiology, he began a course on the subject at VMI. By 1992 Baur was a colonel, serving as department head of biology.
When Baur retired in 2013, his son, Capt. Steve Baur, began teaching the course in the physical education department. By then, the
course was fondly known by cadets as the “Baur Power Hour.” That same course was then taught by his sister-in-law, Capt. Katie Baur, who taught it until 2018 when her husband, Steve’s brother Dan, took it over.
Tragically, Tom was struck by a vehicle while cycling in Rockbridge County and died in 2018.
“I can’t think of anything more meaningful and inspiring than working in a lab named after my dad,” said Dan during the dedication ceremony held Sept. 5.
Close to 100 people attended the ceremony, many of whom were Tom’s brother rats from the Class of 1975. Also in attendance were faculty and staff, including Maj. Gen. Cedric T. Wins ’85, superintendent, current cadets, and alumni whose lives were all impacted by the Baur family.
Donations from the Class of 1975 led to an endowment in Tom’s name, which funds research for cadets participating in the exercise science minor. The endowment also includes the Thomas S. Baur ’75 Award for excellence in exercise science. Two cadets have received the award so far: Aldo Vidro ’21 and Cole Bordonie ’20.
Bordonie attended the ceremony and spoke of the Baurs’ impact on his life. He never knew Tom, but after the international studies major took Katie’s exercise physiology course, he realized his interest was greater than he expected. With some help from Tom’s widow, Judy Baur, who works in the registrar’s office, Bordonie was able to take Dan’s course as well. Now he is attending the same graduate program Dan completed at James Madison University.
“Working in the lab changed my life a lot while I was here,” said Bordonie. “I never got to meet Colonel Baur, but I know he would have treated me the same way as each of his family members who I’ve been fortunate enough to meet.”
Physical education department head Col. Jimmy Coale, Ph.D., knew Tom well and spoke of his quiet strength.
“I would be enlightened. I would feel much better, and I knew I would leave with a smile on my face after having a conversation with Tom,” said Coale.
Coale worked closely with Tom because Tom always maintained his connection to physical education. He assisted with Rat Challenge, a 10-week training program led by the physical education department for cadets during their first semester at VMI. And he helped develop the Summer Transition Program, which offers accepted students a chance to familiarize themselves with VMI, take a course, and get in shape before the Rat Line begins in the fall.
But one of Tom’s most important roles at VMI was as the superintendent’s representative to the Honor Court.
“His most famous saying was ‘honor is a lifestyle,’” explained Dan. “I believe what he meant by this is honor is not something you achieve. It’s something you pursue with effort and dedication.”
By this measure, Tom served not only as a teacher to cadets but also as a mentor. He was a model of physical excellence who balanced his work life with his family life, including by sharing that work with them.
As Dan surmised, “I think for all of us, Dad’s legacy can be summed up in three ways. He was a bridge, a teacher, and an example.”
Maj. Dan Baur, Ph.D., assistant professor of physical education, speaks of his father’s career at VMI during a dedication ceremony. The ceremony named a Cormack Hall lab after the late Col. Tom Baur ’75 in Cormack Hall.—VMI Photo by Kelly Nye.
VMI Logos Change with the Times
By Mary Price, Associate Editor
They’re everywhere now—on water bottles, billboards, and stadium seat cushions, even onesies for babies. College logos are big business, producing multimillion dollar revenue streams for the largest schools.
At VMI, the familiar spider-shaped logo made out of the intertwined letters is as familiar to members of the Institute community as the shape of the barracks seen through morning fog. But has VMI always had its current logo? And who came up with the idea of putting letters together to form a logo in the first place?
Answering those questions, Col. Keith Gibson ’77, director of the VMI Museum System, tells a story of 19th-century innovation in the form of a cipher—a mark deliberately meant to convey meaning to the initiated while puzzling outsiders. Even Queen Victoria had a cipher, Gibson noted. The mark of royalty soon appealed to commoners as well, and the popularity of the cipher spread.
“The VMI cipher of the 19th and early 20th century took on an enormous variety of very creative and artistic interpretations,” said Gibson.
Cadets were free to design their own ciphers, or ones representing their class, and many did so, with the emblems adorning invitations and dance cards. Graphic artists at printing firms likely also assisted with the creation of ciphers.
The earliest cipher dates from the late 1860s, and many late 19th century ciphers are quite elaborately drawn, with flourishes and other enhancements reflecting the tastes of the Gilded Age.
“[The ciphers] very much capture the aesthetic of the period in which they’re found,” said Gibson.
By 1900, intercollegiate athletics were becoming increasingly popular, and the need for sports teams to be instantly recognizable made the cipher a natural fit. The football team first wore the intertwined letters in 1901.
Around the same time, the Institute adopted its colors of red, white, and yellow, and the familiar scheme in which each letter is a different color began. Gibson explained that the colors were chosen for the Army combat arms branches at the time, so red was chosen for the artillery, white for the infantry, and yellow for the cavalry. All the 19th-century ciphers had been black and white only.
In 1922, the familiar shape of today’s logo first took form, with a yellow V, a red M, and a white I. The trademarked logo of today, with the words “Virginia Military Institute” in black letters surrounding the logo in a circle, was adopted in 1989 on the occasion of the Institute’s 150th anniversary.
VMI logos have changed over the years. Above are logos from 1878-1921.—Graphic courtesy VMI Communications & Marketing.
Arsenal Key Symbol of Stewardship
By Mary Price, Associate Editor
At the parade that marked his inauguration as VMI’s 15th superintendent Sept. 10, Maj. Gen. Cedric T. Wins ’85 received an unusual item: A large iron key to the main door of the 1816 state arsenal that preceded VMI, now ceremonially adorned with a red, white, and yellow ribbon.
While the key has been around since the early 19th century, the tradition of presenting it to an incoming superintendent didn’t begin until then-Maj. Gen. John W. Knapp ’54 was inaugurated in 1989. Former superintendents Lt. Gen. Josiah Bunting III ’63 and Gen. J.H. Binford Peay III ’62 likewise received the key at their inaugural ceremonies.
“[The key is] symbolic of receiving the responsibility of stewardship of the Institute,” said Col. Keith Gibson ’77, director of the VMI Museum System. “In 1839, the key represented the stewardship of guarding the 30,000 arms in the arsenal. Today, the key represents accepting stewardship of guarding the education of citizen-soldiers who, in turn, guard the state and nation itself.”
And while Wins is the fourth superintendent to have received the key, Gibson pointed out that the Institute’s first superintendent, Gen. Francis H. Smith, would not only have had the key but would have used it in the early years of his superintendency to unlock the main door of the arsenal, as that building, which was burned in Hunter’s raid in 1864, was the Institute’s main building until Old Barracks was constructed in 1851. Cadet Cole Cathcart ’24 holds the key to the arsenal before presenting it to Maj. Gen. Cedric Wins ’85, superintendent, during the inaugural parade.—VMI Photos by Eric Moore (above) and H. Lockwood McLaughlin (below).
The key to the arsenal’s main door is usually kept in a shadow box in the superintendent’s office. “It’s a real conversation piece,” said Gibson.
Eight additional, smaller arsenal keys are on display in the VMI Museum, along with a piece of one of the arsenal locks.
Leadership Conference Focuses on Citizen-Leaders
By Maj. Michelle Ellwood, VMI Communications & Marketing
The 12th annual VMI Leadership and Ethics Conference, “Evolving Civic Leadership: Citizenship and Social Responsibility,” held Monday, Nov. 1, and Tuesday, Nov. 2, in Marshall Hall, brought more than 160 participants and several universities from across the nation to the table to talk about current hot-button topics and hear from inspirational speakers. Participants learned how important active citizen leadership is to the health of our American republic. Central to the conference’s programming were small group discussions and speakers focusing on the aspirational ideals of active citizenship and social responsibility, beginning with our national founding documents, the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. The conference programming advocated that the individuals in our audience are all citizen leaders with the potential to create change on the smallest to largest levels.
Registrants included VMI cadets, students from other senior military colleges as well as traditional colleges, VMI alumni, and other interested individuals. Maj. Gen. Cedric T. Wins ’85, superintendent, welcomed attendees Monday morning and emphasized how nice it was to be back to a face-to-face conference after pivoting to a virtual platform during coronavirus pandemic restrictions last academic year.
“VMI is an exceptional place to have this conversation and glean insights into active citizenship and civic leadership,” Wins said. The first guest speaker the audience heard from was Amy Chua, a Yale law professor and author of the book, “Political Tribes: Group Instinct and the Fate of Nations.” She is a daughter of two immigrants and used her time during the conference to dive into why the United States is so “bitterly divided” and how the future leaders of America in the audience might overcome this.
“Partisanship has become toxic,” she said as she kicked off her talk. Research shows that humans, even as small children, like to be part of groups and are driven to defend their groups. The problem is when tribalism takes over political systems because it becomes the lens through which everything counts—where facts and policies don’t matter. Chua says several factors are causing the divisions: Massive demographic transformation, social media, and the rise of the divide in America between coastal elites and the middle Americans or working class. She, an optimist, says maybe things aren’t so bad; recognizing what makes America special is how we can move forward in reunifying efforts. She and the other speakers pointed out that America’s unique bond comes from a commitment to a certain creed, ideas, and words—particularly those in our country’s founding documents rather than race, religion, or ethnicity. For this reason, every member of the audience was given a pocket U.S. Constitution. Later in the morning, John Wood Jr., national ambassador for Braver Angels, an organization dedicated to helping Americans overcome political polarization, spoke to attendees, whom he greeted as his “fellow Americans.”
He mentioned that this term is used so freely, especially in political environments. Wood, who is biracial, explained the vastly different backgrounds of his parents, who each showed him “different narratives of American existence,” providing him a wealth of views and perspectives from different branches of his family. Wood’s wife is a military veteran. In speaking to an audience, a majority of whom are exploring military futures, he said, “The institution of the United States military, at its best, provides a framework in which we can harness the deeper sorts of values and commitments that we share as Americans, extending beyond the differences in our identity in a way that gives us common cause and a common mission, and allows us to transcend the things that are so bitterly dividing the American people at this moment.” He asked the audience members to reevaluate what they each can offer American society. The missions don’t always go as expected, but that doesn’t mean anyone should lose confidence, integrity, or moral character. “The best argument is done by example.” With Braver Angels’ facilitators onsite to guide them, participants in the Leadership Conference then debated cadet-selected controversial topics. The topics included COVID-19 vaccine mandates, the U.S. military intervening in foreign countries, transgender athletes, and social media content regulations. The four breakout groups found creative ways to report out their groups’ findings during the conference, some using video, while others created skits, to show the different ways debates can be handled civilly and educationally. The first day ended with dinner speaker, Eric Liu, founder of Citizen University, whose John Wood Jr., national ambassador for Braver Angels, speaks to participants of the VMI Leadership and Ethics Conference, “Evolving Civic Leadership: mission is to build a culture Citizenship and Social Responsibility,” in Gillis Theatre Nov. 1. of powerful, responsible citizenship in cities across the
country. Liu, like the other speakers, confirmed we are in a culture where people have many different viewpoints and political perspectives and asked “How, as a nation, do we close the gap between our creed and our deeds?” Citizenship is something that must be cultivated, and we must take personal responsibility when we want to see change or leadership. According to Liu, citizenship happens when we are fluent in the proper use of power and develop our collective civic character to organize and engage. “We own responsibility for the good, the bad, and ugly, the past, the present, and the future,” Liu said. On the second day of the conference, William McNulty, a Marine veteran and founder of Team Rubicon, a group that trains veterans to respond to natural disasters, spoke to the crowd. Team Rubicon came about from a group of eight individuals who used their military experience to organize and respond to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti in just 24 hours. Now Team Rubicon Global has more than 100,000 members with units in Australia, Canada, Norway, and the United Kingdom, in addition to the United States. About 75% of those involved in Team Rubicon are veterans. The organization has garnered support from four U.S. presidents and members have even worked side by side with Prince Harry. McNulty learned valuable lessons along the way which helped him and his team focus the company’s mission and operations toward more internal objectives which help veterans, such as providing a sense of purpose, a sense of community, and a sense of identity. McNulty helped the audience understand the high of responding to crisis events and how continual exposure to such working environments can trigger a kind of addiction response that can be dangerous, as was the case with a friend whom they met on their first mission, a veteran named Clay. Clay discovered Team Rubicon online and sought them out during their efforts in Haiti. Noted McNulty, “Daily, 22 veterans commit suicide. In 2011, Clay was one of them.” McNulty said Clay taught him that “friends don’t let friends go through terrible things alone.” McNulty went on to say, “Clay’s message is to show up for one another. Find a purpose you’d navigate an earthquake for.” His remarks were followed by a panel discussion featuring alumni who demonstrated civic engagement in action. The group, along with others, initiated collaborative efforts to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion at VMI. Moderating the panel was Lt. Col. Jamica Love, Ed.D., the Institute’s chief diversity officer. Lester Johnson ’95, Sean Lanier ’94, and Keniya Lee ’19 talked about what it means to be involved with the Institute after graduation, what it was like reading about VMI in the news so much in the last year, and how important it is to have empathy during cadetship and afterward. Speaking on his own behalf, Johnson, who is a member of VMI’s Board of Visitors like Lanier, said that, as a society, we “need to expand our ability to have empathy.” The conference’s final speaker was U.S. Army Staff Sgt. David Bellavia, the only living Medal of Honor recipient from Operation Iraqi Freedom. Bellavia brought humor and passion to his remarks and encouraged cadets and other audience members not to be afraid of failure, or of being awkward and uncomfortable. Gillis Theater was nearly full, with his speech open to the public, as he emphasized knowing one’s own personal identity and purpose. “If you know who you are, no one can take that away from you—no matter what they say to you or about you, because no one can take away from you what you are.” Accountability, consistency, love, and loyalty were the values he emphasized. He told people the pandemic our country has been facing for decades is stupidity. He encouraged listeners to “avoid stupid,” and that “stupid is contagious, and stupid will kill.” Being dedicated to the team is critical, and things like religion, gender, sexual orientation, or political affiliation don’t matter. The only thing that matters is the answer to this question: “Are you going to stand by my side? Yes or no?” Being open and understanding, treating people with dignity and respect, and showing up are part of setting the standard. “We fight because we love. ... We have been fighting for love since 1776.” He wrapped up his talk by going back to his message about having greatness. “When the world hits you with negativity ... nothing gets in the way of your greatness!” Bellavia has also written a book titled “House to House,” which is considered one of the best firsthand military accounts ever written, and copies were sold during the Leadership Conference. Attendees had a chance to meet Bellavia and get their books signed. He later had an office call with Wins, and toured post with cadets, including a visit to barracks with Col. Adrian T. Bogart ’81, commandant. Col. Dave Gray, Ph.D., VMI Center for Leadership and Ethics director, felt proud of this year’s conference and his team’s efforts, saying, “Each speaker and each interactive activity we designed into this conference brought depth and a variety of perspectives on how to view what it means to be a citizen-leader. The feedback we received from the conference participants has been very positive. We hope that they will continue to discuss and reflect on this conference for quite some time to come.” Next year’s Leadership Conference will be held Oct. 30–Nov. 1, 2022, with an announcement of the theme and title coming in the spring. To stay informed, please visit the conference website and join the mailing list at conferences.vmi.edu/leadership.
VMI cadets participate in the 12th annual VMI Leadership and Ethics Conference, “Evolving Civic Leadership: Citizenship and Social Responsibility,” held Monday, Nov. 1, and Tuesday, Nov. 2, in Marshall Hall.—VMI Photos by H. Lockwood McLaughlin.
