The sun shone brilliantly May 17 as Virginia Military Institute held its commencement ceremony in Cameron Hall and conferred degrees on the Class of 2026. The ceremony was livestreamed for family and friends who could not attend the event in person.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the first female cadets graduating from the Institute in 2001. Appropriately, the commencement speaker was Gov. Abigail Spanberger, who herself graduated in 2001 from the University of Virginia, and is the first female governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
The Regimental Band played “Pomp and Circumstance” as nearly 260 cadets marched into the arena with a commanding albeit joyful spring in their stride. Family members, friends, and supporters greeted the graduates with a standing ovation, heartening cheers, jubilant shouts, and a few emotional tears.
Furness’ First Class of Graduates
In his commencement address following his first academic year as VMI superintendent, Lt. Gen. David Furness ’87 welcomed the governor, the Board of Visitors, faculty, staff, cadets, alumni, friends and families. He thanked those in the audience who encouraged and sustained the cadets during their time at VMI, and recognized veterans and current military members. To the graduates, he reminded them of the lessons and training they underwent at VMI, as well as the times they were the ones mentoring other cadets, including the Class of 2029. He commended them on leaving the Corps in good hands, and with heartfelt emotion said, “You will forever be my first class of graduates as superintendent. I could not have asked for a better group of young men and women to lead the Corps this year. There were many distractions, but you overcame those obstacles and stayed focused on maintaining your honor and integrity while pursuing your degrees. I am proud of you and what you have accomplished.”
Furness closed by noting that through the VMI Alumni Association’s Pass in Review program, the Class of 1976 forged a meaningful relationship with the Class of 2026 and gifted the graduates a commemorative coin designed collaboratively by both classes to serve as a proud symbol of their bond. He then introduced the peer-elected valedictorian, Lukas Maurer.
Forged by Fire
Maurer, a civil engineering major from Lebanon, Pennsylvania, used the metaphor of sword forging to describe the VMI cadet experience, and quoted from the valedictorian speech of Jonathan Daniels ’61, the alumnus Episcopal seminarian who sacrificed his own life to protect that of another. “We have been blasted by the fire in order to be tempered in mind and spirit.” Maurer compared a young matriculant to a rough, sharp-edged block of steel immediately thrown into a world of controlled chaos, confusion, and stress. “Before you know it, you are bald and wondering if you’ve made the right decision coming to this place. But you persevere and rely on the people to your left and right and choose not to quit for them.” He stated that by the time a rat has completed the first milestone of Matriculation Week, the heated block of steel is taken out of the fire, but the hammer strikes hard with the stresses of classes, Rat Line duties, and physical training. With the much-needed rest of the first furlough, the battered block of steel is plunged into the quench to cool. “But the process is far from over. You return to VMI and are immediately thrown into the fire again,” he said, noting the process continues through many milestones like Breakout, the completion of the first academic year, and new responsibilities as a 3rd Class cadet. “Now, that block of steel is beginning to take the shape of a dull blade. However, the blade is far from ready. You hit the ground running, with increased responsibility as a corporal, now helping facilitate the forging process of incoming rats, all while still being forged yourself.” By the time a cadet reaches the 2nd Class year, with more responsibilities and academic demands, the blade is placed against the grinder. “The general shape has formed over the past two years, but now the excess impurities of dull steel are ground away through the grit of hard work and relentless discipline.” By 1st Class year, he stated, “Again you are heated up and tested in ways you didn’t think possible. However, this is necessary, because the remaining impurities are being removed. The final quenching has occurred, and the blade is sharpened and adorned with a beautiful handle and pommel. You finish your last final exam, and successfully hand off any remaining responsibilities, and savor those final lasting memories with your BRs.”
He concluded, “Today, my friends, you have made it! You are fully adorned VMI-hardened blades prepared for duty in the military, academia, or in the civilian world. I am convinced you have made it through the most difficult college in the country. Regardless of the path we have chosen, we have all gone through the VMI forge together; symbolized by the numbers 2026 on our rings. Take pride in this brotherhood, and the fact that you have excelled through this forging process together.”
Maurer served as cadre corporal and first sergeant for Echo Company. He was a member of the Honor Court and was inducted into the Omicron Delta Kappa and Tau Beta Pi honor societies. He is the son of Robert and Tessa Maurer, and commissioned into the Army as an aviation officer.
A Unified Class
Maximus Ankrah, president of the class, also shared farewell remarks to his brother rats. He pointed out that throughout their cadetship there have been two VMI superintendents, two commandants, two governors of Virginia, and two presidents of the United States. “No matter who’s at the top, no matter who’s calling the shots, no matter the circumstance, we’re able to maintain our integrity and brotherhood as a class, bringing us closer and stronger together.”
He talked of multiple events the class experienced over their four years together that created the strong bond of brotherhood, including the recent Virginia General Assembly action effecting VMI. “Toward the end of February, when legislative bills threatened our school, arguably one of the most unifying memories of our cadetship, it was the leaders of this class, and the support of this class, that changed the trajectory in a positive way.”
Ankrah reminded the graduates that through all the successes and challenges of being VMI cadets, they have truly mastered the system and are more than ready to graduate. “If you can make it through the toughest, hardest, grittiest military school in our nation, you can make it through anything. I have no doubt that you’ll find yourself to be more than worthy contributors to VMI’s rich legacy of honor and service. As long as you remember the credo that has been instilled in us since we were rats, ‘Everything’s earned, not given,’ and you always justify the space you occupy, you will no longer succeed within the walls of barracks, you will succeed within the limitless horizons that the world has to offer.” Ankrah then introduced Spanberger who was warmly welcomed to the lectern.
As long as you remember the credo that has been instilled in us since we were rats, ‘Everything’s earned, not given,’ and you always justify the space you occupy, you will no longer succeed within the walls of barracks, you will succeed within the limitless horizons that the world has to offer.
Maximus Ankrah ’26, 1st Class president
Paths to Achievements
Spanberger thanked VMI for the honor of being the commencement speaker, and expressed gratitude to the cadets for participating in her inauguration parade in January. “You might remember me as the person expressively trying to tell you something as you marched by, keeping straight faces, as you realized that my microphone wasn’t working, as I was desperately trying to grant amnesty,” she quipped.
The governor read aloud VMI’s mission, ‘“Virginia Military Institute believes that the measure of a college lies in the quality and performance of its graduates and their contributions to society. Therefore, it is the mission of Virginia Military Institute to produce educated, honorable men and women prepared for the very work of civil life, imbued with love of learning, confident in the functions and attitudes of leadership, possessing a high sense of public service, advocates of the American Democracy and free enterprise system, and ready as citizen-soldiers to defend their country in times of national peril.’ That is what makes this place special. That is your charge, Class of 2026, to set forth on a path wherein you will make contributions to our society.”
She described her own career path and admitted that it did not proceed exactly how she had planned. “No path is a straight line. Sometimes the windings of paths will get you exactly where you are supposed to be.” She offered an example of successfully following a blind path during a training exercise she went through early in her career with the CIA. She and her colleagues were tasked to get from point A to point B alone, but all at once in the dark of night, in a wooded area, using only a compass. She set her compass bearing, not knowing where she was going, or what she would walk through. She found herself trudging through a swamp, but instead of turning back, she kept going and finally arrived at her destination. “The point of that exercise wasn’t the destination, it was proving to ourselves that we could do hard, strange, sometimes confusing things, that when the path got genuinely difficult, we wouldn’t turn back. You all have many stories of perseverance to choose from, and on your hardest days, you will be able to draw on the memories of what you have achieved, survived, and been through.”
She acknowledged that the cadets are entering a world with significant challenges. “You’re the products of an academic institution that has been preparing leaders for more than 180 years. I have every confidence that you will leave Lexington, not just ready to adapt to the world as you find it, but ready to use your talents to do your part to make it better.”
She concluded enthusiastically with, “I do have one last order of business to attend to, and thankfully the microphone is working this time.” She then granted amnesty to those cadets with unserved penalty tours and confinement, to which the Corps, mostly the 4th Class cadets in attendance, broke out in raucous cheers.
Awards Bestowed
Three awards are traditionally given at VMI’s May commencement exercises. The First Jackson-Hope Medal for highest attainment in scholarship, accompanied by The Commander Harry Millard Mason Academic Proficiency Award, went to Macallister Jennings Clark.
Receiving the Second Jackson-Hope Medal, for second highest attainment in scholarship, accompanied by The Colonel Sterling Murray Heflin 1916 Academic Proficiency Award, was Sebastien Patrick Chicas.
Nolan James Savard, received The Society of the Cincinnati Medal, for efficiency of service and excellence of character, accompanied by The Richard J. Marshall and Sumter L. Lowry Awards.
The presentation of candidates for degrees was delivered by Brig. Gen. Robert W. Moreschi, dean of the faculty and deputy superintendent for academics, followed by the conferring of degrees by Furness, then a benediction was offered by Col. John P. Casper ’04, Institute chaplain.
Kimlong Nguyen ’27, the new regimental commander, relieved the Class of 2026 of their duties as they cheered and engaged in the time-honored tossing of their gloves followed by an Old Yell and singing of “The Spirit.”
25th Anniversary of Women Graduates
Sarah Woosley, a graduate who served as 2nd Battalion commander over the past academic year, shared when she first chose to attend VMI, she was a little intimidated by the male to female ratio. “However, during my first few weeks as a rat, I quickly realized I was surrounded by strong female leaders. I looked up to those women and have worked to become the kind of leader that someone else can look up to. The women before me deserve credit for my success because their courage and perseverance paved the way for me to succeed. To downplay being a female at VMI is to overlook the accomplishments and sacrifices of the women who fought to earn their place at VMI.”
One of those women who came before Woosley is Institute physician, Dr. Melissa S. Krawiec ’01. In recalling her own commencement, Krawiec stated she is fiercely proud to be a member of the first graduating class of female cadets from VMI. “As a class, we overcame some significant obstacles and certainly our story is one of survival, but also of thriving. For me, graduating from VMI meant that I had accomplished the biggest goal I’d ever set for myself in my life. I will tell anyone who asks that VMI was a difficult place to be, but a fantastic place to be from.”
