Class of 2025 – Page 2 – Virginia Military Institute

Honors Week: Cadet Explores Democracy in African Monarchies

Jonah Jurack ’25 spent the summer before his 3rd Class year at Virginia Military Institute studying abroad in Morocco. Jurack was drawn to the unique perspective of non-democratic governments, sparking the beginning of what would become his senior thesis.

For Jurack, an international studies major, his first experience outside the United States raised important questions about how U.S. citizens perceive democratization efforts in non-democratic nations.

“It was fascinating to see how the Moroccan people addressed King Mohammed VI,” said Jurack. “He was widely venerated, and it was frowned upon to critique him in public.”

That experience fueled a broader interest in the Middle East and North Africa, ultimately leading Jurack to his Honors Week presentation titled “Institutional Heritage and Satisfaction with Democratic Practices in African Monarchies: Evidence from Eswatini, Lesotho, and Morocco.”

His research asked what factors explain citizen satisfaction with democratic practices in autocratic monarchies.

Jurack challenged conventional understandings of governance in allied monarchies, an important consideration when evaluating U.S. foreign policy and democracy promotion abroad.

“I started planning my thesis in the spring of my 3rd Class year,” Jurack said. “I spent five weeks this past summer working with my advisor on my quantitative data through the Summer Undergraduate Research Institute.”

Jurack employed quantitative analysis using advanced statistical techniques to explore his topic in depth. He worked under the guidance of Dr. Salih Yasun, assistant professor in the Department of International Studies and Political Science.

“Cadet Jurack’s research is valuable because it illuminates how authoritarian regimes—some of which are America’s closest allies—strive to ensure their survival by employing quasi-democratic methods to elicit different forms of engagement from their citizens,” Yasun said.

Yasun, who first worked with Jurack in a Middle East politics course, said he developed his thesis largely on his own, seeking guidance only when necessary. He described Jurack’s continued academic growth, noting improvements in theory-building, data analysis, and integrating findings within broader political discussions.

“I am confident that Cadet Jurack has a bright future and will make valuable contributions to his surroundings, including his country,” Yasun said. “Honors Week has been a great event showcasing the critical and, indeed, cutting-edge research conducted by cadets here at VMI.”

Jurack plans to commission into the U.S. Army as an infantry officer after graduation. He said the research process has strengthened his critical thinking, sharpened his analytical skills, and taught him the value of persistence. He believes these qualities will serve him well in his military career.

Honors Week: Tavenner Performs Stellar Research

Cassiopeia is a constellation in the northern sky named after a Greek mythological queen. Its distinctive “W” shape formed by its five brightest stars, makes the constellation easily recognizable. In the center of the “W” is the star, Gamma Cassiopeia, which Brian Tavenner ’25 researched for his honors thesis, “Polarization and Interstellar Extinction in the Vicinity of the Star Gamma Cassiopeia.”

Polarization of starlight, first observed in 1949, is when the star’s energy travels through space in just one direction instead of random patterns. Interstellar extinction refers to the dimming of starlight, making the distant objects appear fainter and redder. Both polarization and extinction are due to dust and gas particles.

Tavenner’s work at the VMI Observatory at McKethan Park was enjoyable but limited due to the telescope needing repairs. Using other tools and computer programing, he was able to deduce that the region of space he analyzed is most likely filled with emission line stars, that is stars with material around it that can influence its measured polarization. He recommends that more cadets continue his research to discover the reason for his conclusions.

According to Tavenner’s advisor, Col. Gregory Topasna, professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, the project had several moving parts.

“Brian worked diligently to see everything to completion. Obtaining the images was a little more complicated than usual since the telescope needed repairing, but he was able to image a region that has stars with interesting characteristics. The fact that there is a concentration of emission stars northwest of Gamma Cassiopeia is very interesting and worth following up on. Before graduation, I’m hoping Brian can rustle up a cadet who wants to extend his work. He also knew LaTeX, a typesetting routine that is heavily used by astronomers when writing papers,” he said.

Tavenner submitted his research to the European Astronomical Society in hopes that it will be presented in poster form at the annual general meeting in June at University College Cork in Ireland.

Tavenner is an electrical and computer engineering major from North Prince George, Virginia. He is a graduate of Midlothian High School, and the son of Andrea and James Tavenner. Following graduation, he plans to work with an engineering firm in Richmond.

Honors Week: Cadet Researches AI as a Hiring Manager

Artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere. From health care to finance, transportation, customer service, and manufacturing. Many people rely on AI without really realizing it for their smartphones and smart home devices. But is AI as reliable and accurate as humans in all cases? Jude Roberts ’25, a cadet at Virginia Military Institute, sought to find the answer in his honors presentation, “Assessing the Efficacy of an LLM for Resume Selection and Human Talent Management.”

Roberts, a computer science major from Cloverdale, Virginia, was introduced to AI research when he interned at the U.S. Army Cyber Command at Fort Eisenhower, Georgia, last summer. For his honors project, he conducted an experiment looking at business hiring processes using the AI program, ChatGPT, specifically the GPT-4o mini, a cost-efficient small model. He explained that people generally believe that time efficiency and lower costs are a huge upside to automation. “If a company doesn’t have to pay an employee to look through a lot of resumés, it frees their staff’s time to focus on more high-level strategic tasks. Sometimes ChatGPT and other large language models (LLMs)—software designed to generate human-like, conversational language—provides completely nonsensical, out of context, or just wrong information, known as hallucinations, which is problematic.” Roberts continued to point out that because there is no human interaction to evaluate a potential employee’s interpersonal and character traits, AI may show a bias based solely on particular words appearing on a resumé. “Some of us very soon will be applying for our first jobs and we want a fair shot at the hiring process. What I’m examining here is whether AI is consistently capable of selecting the best applicants for jobs,” he explained.

Roberts took 1,000 resumés and instructed ChatGPT that it was taking on the role of a hiring manager, and it was to consider the applicants’ skills, experiences, and qualifications, and choose the applicant that best fills the job role. Categories included data science, arts, web design, and engineering. An additional category, not applicable (N/A), was designated for any resumé data that contained nonsensical or misleading information or that did not match any of the categories.

Roberts found that AI was less accurate and less reliable than a human hiring manager in finding the best candidate, and he determined that the LLM was vulnerable to malicious interference and bias propagation. “These are very concerning aspects for the reliability of these models, and administrators should be concerned about these issues when implementing this technology. Hiring managers should never solely rely on the technology to automate any portion of resumé screening.”

Sherif Abdelhamid, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Computer and Information Sciences and outreach liaison officer for the Cyber Defense Laboratory, served as Roberts’ advisor on the project. Abdelhamid noted Roberts’ exceptional skills of problem solving, ability to work in a team, and analytical skills. “I see him as a unique, special student. He was able to independently identify the research problem and objectives, and came up with a unique design for his research. He carefully and critically studied how LLMs can impact our lives, and identified their benefits and drawbacks,” said Abdelhamid.

Roberts, who is minoring in applied mathematics and philosophy, is a graduate of Lord Botetourt High School in Daleville. He is the son of Kevin and Lori Roberts. Following graduation, he will commission into the U.S. Space Force where he hopes to do work in cybersecurity or electromagnetic warfare.

Honors Week: Exploring the Complexities of Desegregation

Patrick Kiernan ’25 started exploring different civil rights cases at the Supreme Court level during a class in high school. He found it interesting to see how different cases were and how civil rights progressed.

Jumping forward to his time at Virginia Military Institute, he started exploring more education-based civil rights cases. His interest then formed into a plan for this honors thesis, “The Courts and Educational Equality: The History of the Court’s Role in Desegregation, Integration, and Equality in American Public Schools,” which he presented during VMI Honors Week.

His thesis was centered on the enforcement of desegregation post-Brown v. Board of Education, focusing on the 1960s and 1970s. Divided into five key Supreme Court cases, Kiernan explored the complexities of desegregation, focusing on: Griffin v. Prince Edward County, Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Milliken v. Bradley, San Antonio v. Rodriguez, and Regents of the University of California v. Bakke.

“Overall, I was trying to look at the challenges of desegregating,” he explained. “The way it’s taught in schools is that it was almost overnight. There was more going in, it was a lot more complicated. I was looking at what made it so complicated and what made it difficult to desegregate and all the other problems that kind of came with it.”

Kiernan dedicated between three to seven hours a week to reading, research, and writing in order to tackle a 70-page paper.

“I think it’s helped me develop my writing skills a bit more, because I’ve been able to write that long and able to make it more of a coherent thing,” he said. “Because, even with some of my other classes where it’s like a five- paragraph essay, it’s easy to keep it coherent when it’s that short. But when you’re trying to navigate something that’s almost the size of a small book, it takes a lot more thought and care to be able to put that all together.”

Lt. Col. Mark Boonshoft, associate professor in the Department of History, was Kiernan’s academic advisor for his thesis. The history department requires a longer thesis and additional preparatory semester of work during a cadet’s 2nd Class year, Boonshoft explained.

Boonshoft started working with Kiernan last spring with an independent study, where Kiernan studied school desegregation as it relates to courts specifically. Through that, the two refined Kiernan’s topic to identify primary sources, settle on research methods, and discuss writing.

“Compared with other disciplines, history requires a lot of independence in research for undergraduates,” Boonshoft said. “Cadet Kiernan’s project is on a subject I know a lot about from teaching it for years, but it is not something on which I have done independent research. I am not reading the hundreds of pages of primary sources from Supreme Court justices’ private papers that Cadet Kiernan is. I can keep tabs on his work, look at his notes, review drafts frequently, discuss the research weekly, but this is not collaborative research. Cadet Kiernan deserves the credit for having produced 70 -pages of carefully researched, well-sourced, original work.”

Kiernan said that the process of research and writing his thesis sparked new ambitions for him. He previously had an interest in law school, but this experience has prompted him to shift to potentially graduate school. Although Kiernan will be commissioning into the U.S. Army after graduating in May, he said the future prospect of grad school has become more alluring.

As part of the Institute Honors program, the history major said it’s allowed him to explore other concentrations and widen his academic discoveries. He said it’s made him more intellectually curious.

“If you really want to learn more about the world in general, I think Institute Honors has helped,” Kiernan admitted. “I’ve been able to learn a lot, even if it wasn’t necessarily something in my discipline.”

Boonshoft said that Kiernan’s research will help him when he commissions into the Army. He said that constitutional history has become an area of focus at VMI to help train its citizen-soldiers.

“Research like this brings important constitutional issues to cadets’ attention. It’s research that also bears on VMI’s own story of racial integration in the 1960s, of affirmative action, and so forth,” Boonshoft said. “I think this research shows his commitment to the citizenship side of the citizen-soldier ideal. More concretely, it has given him a chance to hone important skills of analysis, of writing, and most importantly of formulating clear questions and strategizing ways to answer them. He has also had to synthesize huge amounts of information into a coherent narrative. That skill of separating what is important and what’s just noise will serve him well in the military and beyond.”

Honors Week: Freeman Compares Philosophers

Brooks Freeman ’25, an English major at Virginia Military Institute, sought a common core between the philosophies of Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī, a 13th century Middle Eastern Sufi mystic and poet, and SØren Kierkegaard, a 19th century Danish philosopher, theologian, and poet, in his honors presentation, “Varieties of Mystical Experience: Encountering the Absolute in Rūmī and Kierkegaard.”

Freeman found inspiration for his research after traveling to England and Morocco in the summer of 2023. In England, he studied existential philosophy and comparative religion.

“Going into the existential philosophy class, the first person we read was Kierkegaard, who is regarded as the original existentialist. He wrote extensively about faith, and I became interested in his ideas. In my comparative religion class, I learned a little about Sufism and Christian mysticism, and found those to be very interesting,” shared Freeman. Upon returning to VMI the following fall, he decided he wanted to compare the two thinkers for his honors thesis.

Freeman cited Pseudo-Dionysius, an ancient Greek theologian, for his definition of mysticism. “‘The experiential encounter with the utterly transcendental reality that God is.’ Basically, a meeting with God.”

He described some differences between Christian mysticism and Sufism.

“The first and most obvious difference would be their foundations; Sufism founded from Islam, and Christian mysticism from Christianity. They also have different end goals. Christian mysticism is about union with God while keeping one’s individual characteristics, and Sufism is about annihilation of oneself to form a kind of oneness with God.”

Similarities he listed between the two philosophies include the individual taking an internal journey toward divine union, poetry rich in symbolism, and teaching and guidance.

“Then the final thing is this idea of the absurd that you can see in Kierkegaard’s writing. It has to do with something that cannot be comprehended logically, but is believed through faith, which Kierkegaard wrote is extremely difficult. It is something that is present in Rūmī’s writing as well,” Freeman explained.

Freeman defended the premise of comparing the two authors because they are still relevant, they are widely read outside of their faith tradition, there is a lack of research comparing them, and they both sought a similar mystical path.

Freeman concluded that the paths of Kierkegaard and Rūmī are similar, but warned that the commonalities are steeped in their respective traditions, so context must be appreciated. Studying them in conjunction displays that mystical experiences can at once be common and contextualist.

Freeman’s advisor, Lt. Col. Patrick Eichholz, associate professor in the Department of English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies, has known Freeman for four years.

“I first met Brooks through the adopt-a-rat program, and it’s been a real pleasure to watch him develop as a scholar. I knew there was something different about Brooks the first time he came over to my house. When the other rats asked for the Netflix password, Brooks asked for book recommendations. After Breakout, I saw a lot less of Brooks, but I was not surprised when I heard all the updates that Brooks was joining the honors program, preparing for the LSAT, and traveling overseas for various study abroad opportunities.”

Freeman is from Noblesville, Indiana, and minoring in Arabic. He is an alumnus of Culver Academies and the son of Lee and Rose Freeman. He plans to attend law school following graduation.

Honors Week: Do Comedy and Political Rhetoric Mix?

Is it the role of entertainers to take on serious issues and use their celebrity status to sway opinion? Johnny Carson, host of The Tonight Show for nearly 30 years and one of the most famous comedians of the 20^th century, once argued that comedians should not use their fame for influence. Rather, their job is to entertain.

Suzanne Leaptrot ’25, an English major with a concentration in rhetoric and writing at Virginia Military Institute, asked, “Where do we situate comedy in our understanding of political rhetoric?” in her honors thesis presentation, “Conventional Comedy: Analyzing Stephen Colbert’s Live Monologues from Democratic and Republican National Conventions.”

According to Leaptrot, comedy is not exempt from providing news. In fact, people are increasingly getting their news from comedy shows like Saturday Night Live, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, and The Daily Show. “Comedians don’t have the same journalistic obligations that reporters do. Journalists can be called out when they provide false information and are expected to redact their statements and admit when they are wrong. When a comedian provides false information, he can say, ‘Oh, it was just a joke.’ Yet these comedy shows still frame opinions, so I sought to evaluate comedy with the analytic framework of demagoguery,” she said.

Leaptrot referenced the Oxford English Dictionary when defining a demagogue as, “someone who seeks support by appealing to the desires and prejudices of ordinary people instead of using rational argument.” She studied two theories of demagoguery and settled on her own theory, and applied those principles to comedian Stephen Colbert’s live monologues from each side of the Democratic National Conventions (DNC) and Republican National Conventions (RNC) in 2016, 2020, and 2024.

The first theory Leaptrot studied was that of Patricia Roberts-Miller, author of “Demagoguery and Democracy,” who stated that demagoguery is always bad, and the main indicator of demagoguery is when arguments are reduced to an “us versus them” problem. The prime example is Adolf Hitler. The second theory Leaptrot researched is that of Charles Zug, author of “Demagogues in American Politics.” “Zug argues that Americans live in a society that thrives on populism and demagoguery. It paradoxically claims to hate demagoguery, but there is a time and place for political leaders—and political leaders only—to engage in demagogic rhetoric that is beneficial to democracy. He says in a civic emergency when there’s no time for politicians to explain the rationale behind their decisions, they are obligated to engage in demagoguery,” reported Leaptrot.

After comparing the two theorists, Leaptrot concluded that a good demagogue does not exist because a good demagogue isn’t a demagogue at all. “There’s a type of good demagoguery that is only valid in a rhetorical emergency. Someone may use demagoguery as a rhetorical device one time, but demagoguery is not a part of his character. This is where Stephen Colbert comes in.”

Leaptrot, who is a fan of Colbert’s comedy, viewed five hours of his monologues from both the DNC and RNC in 2016, 2020, and 2024. “In theory, they are identical events, but from opposite sides of the political aisle. What better place to look for a disparity in how he talks about each side?” She found that Colbert consistently belittled and criticized republicans, but praised and was favorable of the democrats. She concluded that her parameters of demagoguery apply to Colbert’s monologues in 2020, but not for 2016 nor 2024.

Maj. Adam Cody, assistant professor in the Department of English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies, served as Leaptrot’s advisor on the project. Cody stated that she reflects some of the noblest aspirations of the liberal arts educational program. “It is in Suzanne’s nature, when confronted with a challenge, to advance toward it, not to retreat from it. She has a fondness for learning and takes joy in discovering new answers to old questions,” he said.

Leaptrot is from McLean, Virginia, where she attended Langley High School. She is the daughter of Jeanne Peck. After graduation, Leaptrot hopes to teach English in Lithuania through the Fulbright Program. She also wants to pursue a master’s degree in intelligence and security studies.

Honors Week: Why Live? Cadet Researches Philosopher’s Personal Resilience

Simon Moore ’25 was drawn to Arthur Schopenhauer’s pessimistic views and honesty about pain and suffering. He said it might be considered a taboo subject, but it intrigued him.

He presented his thesis, “Why Live?: An Analysis of Arthur Schopenhauer’s Life and Philosophy,” during Virginia Military Institute’s Honors Week. The psychology major decided to commit his time outside his department to a philosophy-focused thesis.

“There’s not really a lot of opportunity to read and learn about philosophy,” Moore admitted. “That was something that I kind of wished that I had.”

He essentially willed that and was allowed to pursue the topic of Schopenhauer’s life due to his desire to explore something more reading and writing intensive — something he hadn’t really done during his cadetship.

Moore’s thesis explored why Schopenhauer, despite his pessimistic life and work, did not commit suicide, focusing on his denial of the will through art, philosophy, compassion, and detachment. He analyzed Schopenhauer’s life, including his daily routine, his relationships, and his philosophical pursuits, to determine if he lived up to his own ideals.

The research involved extensive reading and writing, with a focus on understanding Schopenhauer as a man and the alignment of his life and work.

Moore pointed out Schopenhauer’s philosophy offers four key principles for personal resilience: art and aesthetic pleasures, philosophical thinking and reading, compassion, and detachment.

In his thesis, Moore emphasizes that these principles are always available, regardless of life’s circumstances. They provide tools for maintaining perspective and finding meaning, even during personal struggles. The core idea is to consciously choose how to respond to suffering — through art, reflection, compassion, and detachment — rather than being overwhelmed by life’s challenges.

He began his research last spring, spending about four to five hours a week on reading materials. That amped up in the fall and this spring to about eight to 10 hours a week of research. By February, he was writing his thesis in full force.

Moore said that this research opportunity allowed him to diversify himself as a student at VMI.

“That’s something that I’m really proud of doing. Nearing the end of this project, I did something that maybe a lot of other cadets aren’t necessarily willing to do,” he said. “I intend to sort of continue this philosophical interest of mine into my career after VMI.”

Moore plans to continue exploring philosophy, particularly in the context of wealth management, where understanding individual suffering and resilience is crucial.

Dr. Duncan Richter, professor in the Department of English, Rhetoric, and Humanistic Studies, was Moore’s academic advisor for his thesis. Richter met with Moore once a week to make sure he was on track, while providing feedback on what he had written and suggesting other readings.

“He is pretty self-motivated and hasn’t needed much correction, so I feel as though I have been relatively hands-off,” Richter said. “It’s my job as a professor to try to get cadets to think more and better, and this project has certainly got Cadet Moore thinking very carefully about the nature of reality and the meaning of life. If he can share some of his enthusiasm for philosophy and some of the insights he has gained, then that’s good for everyone here.

“I hope he has enjoyed doing it, but, above all, I think he has really been thinking critically about important questions. That can only be good for his intellectual development,” Richter added.

Honors Week: Cadet Looks at U.S. Debt

American investor and philanthropist Warren Buffett said, “It’s never paid to bet against America. We come through things, but it’s not always a smooth ride.” Harrison Williams ’25, a cadet at Virginia Military Institute majoring in economics and business, researched the wisdom of investing in the United States for his honors project, “Sustainable Debt Limit Estimates for the U.S. and 20 Other OECD Countries.”

The goal of Williams’ project was to estimate the debt level of the U.S and how much money the country can continue to borrow before a default occurs.

Williams opened his presentation by reminding his audience that the nation was founded in 1776 with the idea of the American dream, allowing people from all over the world to immigrate to the foundling nation, start businesses, and grow wealth to provide better lives for themselves and their families. “One way to grow your wealth in the U.S. is by investing in stocks and bonds. U.S. bonds provide a guaranteed return on investment because the U.S. has never defaulted on debt. However, this guaranteed payment on U.S. bonds may not last forever. The U.S. currently has $36 trillion in gross debt. This is more than the combined debts of China, Japan, France, Germany and the United Kingdom (UK). How much is $36 trillion? Thirty-six trillion one-dollar bills stacked on top of each other will reach the moon and back over nine times, spanning 2,200,000 miles. That’s the distance of traveling from Lexington to San Francisco and back nearly 500 times. To put it in another perspective, between 2020 and 2024, the U.S. government spent $320,000 every second,” Williams stated.

He pointed out that when a country’s interest payments on debt begin to exceed its defense budget, that marks the beginning of the end for that country, and that happened for the United States in 2024. “If you look at countries or empires like the Ottoman Empire, Great Britain, Spain, and France, the beginning of their demise started as soon as their interest payments on debt began to exceed their defense budget. So why is this important? If the U.S. defaults on its debt, the beginning of one of the most catastrophic economic disasters since the Great Depression will occur,” predicted Williams.

His research was based off a paper released by the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) from September 2024, in which the debt limits for the U.S. and 26 other countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) were calculated. “OECD countries are generally considered high-income economies, European countries, Canada, Japan, the UK, and the U.S. I modeled my equations off of that paper, but the main difference between mine and theirs is that they covered a different time period. Their debt limits included variables spanning from 1984 to 2022. My data covered 1996 to 2022. The AEI paper used 26 OECD countries, I only used 21 due to data limitations. I also took the U.S. out of the sample because the U.S. is the greatest economy in the world, so its numbers have a great impact in the sample. With the U.S. taken out of the equation, the debt limits for each country decreases,” explained Williams.

After running a series of complex calculations, comparing gross debt and net debt, Williams completed his research. He shared his concern for the U.S. economy at the conclusion of his presentation. “This debt ratio hasn’t been this high since World War II, and if it’s already this high, what if the U.S. gets in World War III today? Will we be able to afford to fund it in the long run? That is troubling.”

Maj. Steven Landgraf, assistant professor in the Department of Economics and Business who served as Williams’ advisor on the project, stated that a few studies in this field have been criticized for lack of reproducibility. “The fact that Harrison used similar methods and confirmed some results of past research is valuable, but his work also shows that economists should be more careful about using U.S. data to calibrate models meant to inform non-U.S. countries.”

Williams is the son of Lang and Lucy Williams of Norfolk, where he graduated from Norfolk Collegiate School. Following graduation, he hopes to go into the field of finance and eventually become an entrepreneur.

Honors Week: Cadet Researches Suicide Prevention

Advertisers have long known that a celebrity’s endorsement of a product can increase sales, but does that marketing strategy hold true for a health care campaign, more specifically a mental health campaign? That is what Delilah Martindale ’25, a Virginia Military Institute cadet, researched for her honors thesis, “Preventing Suicide: The Effect of Visibility on Mental Health Infrastructure.”

Martindale chose the subject of suicide prevention in order to merge her major in international studies with her minor in psychology. Martindale’s advisor, Vera Heuer, Ph.D., professor in the Department of International Studies and Political Science, whose area of expertise is social movements, encouraged her to take a look at mental health care.

“Essentially, we embraced this political sociological approach and came up with a project where she examined the degree with which the visibility of an organization in trying to raise awareness for suicide prevention actually impacts tangible outcomes. It’s truly in the spirit of the Institute honors program by merging various disciplines, and she did quite a wonderful job with that,” Heuer said.

Martindale’s research question asks, “What effect does visibility have on mental health infrastructure?” She defined mental health infrastructure (MHI) as the physical and organizational structures, facilities, and systems that collectively support the delivery of mental health care services. She hypothesized that the more visibility a campaign can create, the higher the rate of increasing MHI, and if a campaign can obtain a celebrity endorsement, it will enhance its visibility and therefore positively impact MHI.

“There is a psychological phenomenon where repeated exposure to a stimulus leads to an increased liking or preference for that stimulus. So essentially, familiarity breeds liking. The more familiar you are with something, the more likely you are to like it or have it in the forefront of your brain when you’re making decisions,” explained Martindale.

She tested her hypothesis by examining five case studies: The Trevor Project, a leading suicide prevention/crisis intervention nonprofit for young people ages 13 to 24 of the LGBTQ+ community; The Jed Foundation, an organization established by a couple following the suicide of their son; Active Minds, a program launched by the sister of a man who committed suicide; Hope for the Day, a prominent nonprofit movement in Chicago that influences proactive suicide prevention and mental health education; and Project Semicolon, an organization founded by a woman whose father took his own life, and in which Selena Gomez, a very prominent A-list celebrity is involved as executive producer.

Martindale assigned each case study a score based on their facilities, services, resources, education, and patient interaction compared to their social media presence, celebrity endorsement, news coverage, advertising and published literature.

She concluded that the first part of her hypothesis, “The more visibility a campaign can create, the higher the rate of increasing MHI,” is correct most of the time. “Clearly it was correct, four out of five times that I did the different case studies.”

The second part of the hypothesis, “If a campaign can obtain a celebrity endorsement, it will enhance its visibility and therefore positively impact MHI,” was inconclusive. “It seems to be more about what type of celebrity involvement there is, how actively engaged they were, what kind of endorsements they were doing, rather than general celebrity involvement,” she clarified.

Martindale is from San Bruno, California, where she attended Capuchino High School. She is the daughter of Mary Lefevre and Dave Martindale. In addition to minoring in psychology, she also minors in Spanish and leadership studies. After graduation, she plans to commission into the U.S. Army.

The Vanguard — Alexis Gonzalez ’25

The Vanguard series highlights cadets of Virginia Military Institute who exemplify promise, perseverance, and the true spirit of leadership. While they may not be the top-ranking students or those in prestigious positions, these individuals’ dedication, resilience, and growth embody the essence of being a VMI cadet. By sharing their stories, including the challenges they’ve faced and overcome, we shine a spotlight on the diverse paths to success at the Institute, proving that leadership and excellence come in many forms.

Helping others is Alexis Gonzalez’ ’25 backbone. Anything she can do to help others,; she’s immediately on board. She plans on pursuing emergency management after graduating and going to paramedic school.

“I do it for the people,” she said about being an emergency medical technician (EMT). “I have to be the calm in the storm. I have to do my job, but it’s a Catch-22 because every time you do your job, somebody is having the worst day of their life. Being that calm in the storm for that person is a feeling that I can’t even describe. I’ve seen some incredible things and some horrific things. I’m happy to say, I don’t regret it one bit. It just gives me the opportunity to guide others getting into the field.”

The history major accidentally stumbled upon Virginia Military Institute. She admitted while searching for the University of Valley Forge, she ended up misspelling it and VMI popped up instead. It turned out to be the best mistake she’s made.

“VMI was the only school I got in early decision, and I haven’t looked back since,” Gonzalezs said. “My desire was to get out of Texas, so I was trying to go as far away as I could, and VMI was willing to give me an academic scholarship.”

She found the right fit in history. She loves learning about strategy, business history, military history, and constitutional history — which VMI has in spades. Her academics didn’t come without struggle, though.

“I’m not an academic weapon,” she admitted. “I’m a very physical, practice, tactile person, like if I can touch it, good to go. Books … can’t read. I’m highly dyslexic, the words jumble. Learning how to in college was fun.”

Her trick? Reading key parts of materials and gathering the overall sense of what is being studied.

“I worked really, really hard. My academic advisor, I give him a lot of credit, because he taught me how to read a book, because you don’t necessarily need to read all of it. You just need to read the key parts of it — the intro, the conclusion. That’s what I kind of focus on. If I need to read a chapter, I’ll skim it, and my brain will go from there.”

Alexis Gonzalez working as a cadet EMT. — Screenshot

She credits a class she took early on at VMI called Intro to Methods in helping her create her own system of learning.

“It teaches you how to be a historian and read all those things you need to read and pick out the pieces that you actually need to focus on,” she explained. “That class kind of helped me solidify the rest of my academic career, because I literally transferred what I learned there and just put it to every other class and it worked. I worked really hard at it, and it didn’t click until my 2nd Class year. My GPA started going up. Last semester, I had 3.4. I’ve never had a 3.4.”

Maj. Christopher Blunda, assistant professor in the Department of History and Gonzalez’ academic advisor, described her as a hardworking student and someone he could always count on coming prepared to class and willing to share her perspectives.

“Her participation promoted an environment that was conducive to learning and was therefore quite beneficial to her fellow students,” he explained. “Her accomplishments in the classroom are, in my view, quite impressive given the extent of her numerous obligations and responsibilities.”

She says she’s decent cadet who is active as a lieutenant for VMI’s cadet EMT and the president of the Cadet Equity Association (CEA). She said she likes being part of the community and participating.

Apart from figuring out her learning style, Gonzalez said her writing has improved during her time at VMI. She credits the Writing Center for it. The biggest growth has been her confidence.

“I want to say I’ve grown quite a bit just in my confidence level,” she said. “I’ve grown together with my brother rats. Just learning your place in the system, growing, and becoming a part of the team.”

Blunda said he and his colleagues view her with great respect.

“In my view, she is among the most promising 1st Class cadets because of her attention to detail, ability to present well, and commitment to teamwork and service,” he said. “The qualities mentioned above make her stand out. There are a great number of good cadets at VMI, I consider Cadet Gonzalez among the best. She learns from her experiences and is able to apply that knowledge effectively. She is not the sort of person who ever needs to be told anything twice. Hers is a consistent pattern of improvement. My colleagues in history will certainly miss her after she graduates.”

Tag: Class of 2025