The Extra Mile: Yearbook Club

The ability to flip through pages and be transported into the past is sort of magical.  

James Burns ’23 and his team spend the academic year scouring post for memories. They come in the form of pictures, words, moments, and more. From the Rat Challenge, Breakout to Ring Figure and graduation, the Virginia Military Institute yearbook, “The Bomb,” takes a snapshot in time that can be memorialized forever. 

“I think of ‘The Bomb’ as a way to remember what happened during the year when you look back in the book 25 years from now. It is truly putting together the collection of moments and people that make VMI special,” he said. 

The yearbook not only records events and cadets, but academics, clubs, sports, and shoutouts to the graduating class.  

For Burns, it’s the job of the editor of the yearbook to make sure those college moments are captured and put into print. It’s also a job he kind of just fell into. His fellow brother rat Sibi Bagavathy ’23 recruited him to help. 

“I showed up to a meeting and I got put directly to work. That was all she wrote,” the cadet-in-charge said. 

Now, he’s in charge. He works closely with Command Sgt. Maj. Suzanne D. Rubenstein with putting the actual yearbook together.  

“At the end of the day what happens to the yearbook is my decision, but I like to take a lot of input from my team in terms of cover, different spreads, themes, colors, etcetera,” he said.   

This year’s theme is “Shadows,” which will feature a series of shadowed photos around post.  

The yearbook was first published in 1885. After a nine year hiatus, it has been published continuously since 1895, with the exception of 1945 and 1946. VMI also digitized the yearbook collection from 1885 to 2010. 

“It is one of the oldest publications,” Rubenstein said. “It’s a year of history captured in the moment. You’re not going to get that back. You’ve got to publish this book and see faces and names.” 

The team spends the year ticking off boxes, hitting up all the clubs, activities, and more on post. It also allows participants to set their own schedule and work at their own pace — as long as deadlines are met. It’s an ongoing process, Anna Yemelianova ’25 said. Although things are wrapping up in mid-to-late April in terms of finalizing the yearbook, there are still things they have to document.  

“We still have so much of the year to get through and there are so many pictures and events that we could get into the yearbook,” Yemelianova said.  

The yearbook staff reiterated that Rubenstein tells them this is a cadet yearbook — not a staff yearbook — so the focus should be on those attending VMI.  

“She’s fantastic in that she allows us to have creative direction,” Bagavathy said. “Like what color it is going to be, or the overall theme of the yearbook. At the same time she’s basically kind of pushing us along where we need to be pushed along.” 

Bagavathy said the club is what you make of it, all depending on what your interests are.  

“For me photography, and I guess the creative direction of the yearbook design itself,” he said.  

Bagavathy was involved with the yearbook while in high school. Overall, he enjoys the creativity of it.  

“Getting together and working in a team group environment … I was really excited to hear that there was something here at VMI just like that,” he said. 

The yearbooks, which are funded by the advertisements sold and placed in the back of them and by the purchases in previous years, are extremely popular.  

“My favorite thing about the yearbook is taking photos during the different events here. Especially when people don’t know the photos are being taken and they are living in the moment,” Burns said. “I think it’s awesome to be able to look at how far you and your class have come in just four short years here.” 

Bagavathy said VMI’s smaller size is a benefit.  

“I think VMI, given its size, is actually able to do a good job of capturing what cadet life is like, in addition to having biographies for each person laid out well. These bigger schools, you can’t really do that,” he said. “I think we do a good job of capturing all the different elements, rather than just making a glorified brochure.” 

It’s more personable, Yemelianova confirmed. 

“You can pick up a yearbook and just flip through it and be like, ‘Oh, I know so many of these people,’” she said. 

“It’s kind of nice having a platform to essentially make those memories into concrete, tangible objects that you can look at,” Bagavathy added.