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ECBU News
Natalia Dias ’28 wanted to be set up success, and that meant finding a way to pay for college or leave her with minimal debt. She had three clear goals in school: an engineering program, U.S. Army ROTC, and cross country and track.
A sense of discipline is what drew Amari Benjamin ’27 to Virginia Military Institute. Benjamin, an economics and business major, plans on commissioning into the U.S. Army.
VMI maintained its reputation as one of the nation’s best colleges, according to the 2026 Best Colleges rankings released Sept. 23 by U.S. News and World Report.
Cadets enrolled in the economics and business analytics class taught by Col. Barry Cobb, professor in the Department of Economics and Business, heard an award winning presentation by two juniors from Roanoke County’s Hidden Valley High School (HVHS).
A different college experience was what Conner Reid ’27 was searching for. He said that Virginia Military Institute offered that and it’s what attracted him.
It was a goal of Luke Schalow ‘26 to play college football. But he also knew, if he could never play football again, he wanted to go to a school he would be proud to have attended.
John Gibson ’26 initially underestimated the academic challenges at Virginia Military Institute, leading to a rough first semester, but his determination to improve transformed his approach to learning.
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.”
College was the last thing on Cameron Thomas’ ’27 radar in high school. Instead, he was looking to enlist in the military once he graduated. That was until he started track his junior year, specifically competing in pole vault.
The College Debates and Discourse Program at Virginia Military Institute continued its development throughout the fall semester, beginning with a partnership with the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia and the national College Debates and Discourse Alliance.