VMI Holds Commencement for Class of 2024

A clear and warm morning set the tone for VMI’s commencement ceremony, conferring degrees on the approximately 350 cadets of the Class of 2024 who marched into Cameron Hall May 16, 2024.

Maj. Gen. Cedric T. Wins ’85, superintendent, welcomed the assembly and noted that the great personal achievement of graduating from VMI is not reached alone but rather with the help of family, friends, faculty, staff, and coaches who encouraged, guided, and sustained the cadets. He reflected that many of the Class of 2024 may not have had high school graduations because of the pandemic, and he noted these graduates were met with additional challenges and hardships when they matriculated in August 2020 compared to matriculants in previous years. “You marched up the hill for the first time on a rainy afternoon with your VMI-issued masks on. Everything that first semester was done deliberately and with caution under the guidance of the medical community. Our goal was to protect each other and those around us. By November, the health experts advised we distance from each other for a season, so you finished your first semester online. Thankfully, you were able to return in January,” said Wins.

Wins also remarked on the shared firsts for the Class of 2024 and himself, as their first semester at VMI was also his first semester as interim superintendent.

He commended the class on their accomplishments, saying, “You are one of the few classes at VMI to have endured the full effects of the global pandemic. I can say without a doubt your class showed tremendous grit and resilience. You not only persevered to the end, but you did it with character. Remember this lesson because it will apply to many future challenges you will face. You have a foundation built on honor, resilience, dependability, and sacrifice. You know that leadership is not easy, but I challenge you to serve the people around you. Take these lessons and become leaders in your family, your community, the Commonwealth, and the nation.”

Virginia G. Townsend ’24, Class of 2024 peer-elected valedictorian, spoke and cited the additional burdens placed upon her class their rat year because of the pandemic but saw it as a blessing. “It was those difficult times that allowed us to grow closer with each other. The hallmark of any VMI class is the close bond forged between brother rats, but for our class, it is even more so the case.”

Townsend shared with her audience that she thought she knew the definition of friendship in high school but learned from her parents that a friend is someone who would lay down their life for you, someone who would drop everything to put your best interest above their own, and someone for whom you would do the same. “It wasn’t until coming here that I realized how right they were. Never before in my life have I had the privilege and the blessing to be surrounded by so many friends. We helped each other grow in maturity, grace, and confidence. We slowly but surely changed from a loosely connected group of individuals into the class of strong men and women,” she said.

Townsend conceded that the future may be uncertain but encouraged her peers to never lose faith.

Cole Cathcart ’24, Class of 2024 president, shared farewell remarks with his brother rats by telling them to keep in mind the phrase, “look up.” “When wrestling with life’s challenges, look up at the sky, the clouds, and the mountains. God Almighty created the wonderful world around us, and his plans for us are so much larger than the trivial trials we experience. Look up to those who have helped you along the way: Parents, professors, coaches, faculty, staff, roommates, and dykes. While we say goodbye to each other today, we have technology to keep us together. When an old roommate or someone you shared a class with crosses your mind in a few years, look them up, call them, or send them a text or email. Let them know you’re thinking about them.”

Cathcart then introduced the speaker, Ryan D. McCarthy ’96, 24th secretary of the U.S. Army, who graduated from VMI with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history. McCarthy shared with his audience that despite his success in the military, government, and private sector, he was far from being a model cadet. “I was undisciplined and did not like following the rules. As a result, I spent a lot of time marching alone in the courtyard, in endless confinement, even cleaning latrines. No one would have predicted I would ever graduate, much less lead Airborne Ranger platoons into combat, or serve at the highest levels of industry and government. It got so bad that after 2 years, I was invited to leave,” he confessed.

After time spent at home in Chicago and having a heart-to-heart discussion with his parents, McCarthy was given permission to return to VMI, where he improved his academic performance. When he received his diploma, he was the first member of his family to attain a college degree.

McCarthy encouraged the graduating class to listen to their mentors and heed their wise words. He advised them to cherish their friendships made at VMI and named several of his own brother rats who went on to lead successful lives, including John Adams ’96, VMI Board of Visitors president, and Mark Townsend ’96, M.D., a preeminent cardiologist who sent all four of his children, including this year’s valedictorian, to VMI. He concluded by telling the graduating class to consider what faces them around the world.

McCarthy currently serves on the CACI International board of directors and is an adviser to the U.S. Innovative Technology Fund. He is a member of the National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation board of directors and is the University of Maryland Robert H. Smith School of Business board of advisers vice chairman. In 2019, McCarthy was inducted into the U.S. Army Ranger Hall of Fame.

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 Jacob R. Kleinschuster ’24, an economics and business major from Richmond, Virginia.

Receiving the Second Jackson-Hope Medal for second-highest attainment in scholarship, accompanied by the Colonel Sterling Murray Heflin 1916 Academic Proficiency Award, was Joshua D. Cheung ’24, from Brookfield, Connecticut, who double majored in biology and English.

Townsend 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.

Commencement concluded with a benediction offered by Col. John P. Casper ’04, chaplain, followed by Cadet Brian M. Pritchard ’25, the new regimental commander, relieving the Class of 2024 of their duties as they cheered and tossed their gloves in the air.

Alumni Agencies Photos VMI Photos