Stewart Spurry '20 shares his journey to becoming the Rat Disciplinary Committee (RDC) president and his future goals. His interview touches on these leadership competencies: responsibility for personal behavior, self-development, mentoring, teamwork, and social responsibility.

Former Navy SEAL Officer, co-founder & CEO of MATBOCK, and the co-founder and president of Strike Force Beverage, Sean Matson '05 will touch on leadership competencies such as communication, supervision, inclusion, self-development, initiative, and decision making.

In this episode, 2019 Center summer interns Townsend and Forehand touch on the following leadership competencies from the VMI Leader Journey: motivation, personal values, mentoring, teamwork, inclusion, helping others.

Court Whitman '99 discussed his leadership journey with Emily and Derek on a break during the 10th Annual VMI Leadership Conference this past October where he was a guest speaker. Court is energetic and dynamic on stage and focuses his latest efforts on high-performance in individuals and teams.

Staff members at the VMI Center for Leadership and Ethics, sat down with Cadets Brittany Szczepanik '20 and Will Neikirk '20 after our 2019 Annual VMI Leadership and Ethics Conference to talk about their involvement in the Center programs and leadership opportunities at VMI.

The Importance of Culture and the Academy Advantage

In this episode, with former NFL offensive lineman, PhD mathematics candidate at MIT, and author John Urschel who came to post spring 2020 as part of our Courageous Leader speaker series. We spoke about his football and math careers and how he developed and applied his leadership style.

In this episode of the podcast, we sat down with Carl Skerry Class of '20 to talk about his leadership journey and his experiences at VMI. Skerry explains why VMI presented the kind of challenge he was looking for. Skerry is the F-Company Commander and plans on commissioning into the Marines.

In 2019, VMI Leader-in-Residence Gen. Dennis Via came for several short visits to post. Via's 36-year career holds a wealth of insights and we captured those during a video interview as a future resource and to share them with our audience.

Carrie Papke says despite not having the 'picturesque' cadetship of rank throughout her cadetship or 'ac' stars, she embraced the challenges and leadership opportunities that came her way and worked toward success over time.

Rising First Class Cadet Paul Boucher says his advice to incoming rats is that despite trying to imagine what VMI will be like, it's best to just stay in shape and be adaptive. It will be tough mentally, physically, and academically.

Outgoing First-Class President Sam Trepp talks about taking his own advice, how he and his classmates are making the most of an off-post senior year and how they are keeping each other unified as a class.

Tragedy struck just prior to matriculation, but Jeremiah Gaulding '22 says family and his dyke helped him overcome the mental pressures of the Ratline. Now he looks forward to becoming part of the S5 Staff and commissioning in the air force upon graduation. Learn more about Gaulding's journey.

Madeleine Barrett '20 says her role as class ring designer is one of her proudest. Learn about her story and experiences on this episode.

Former Marine Reservist, class vice president, and representative on the General Committee Josh Austin '20 shares his insights and lessons learned on peer leadership.

Alumnus Bob Fricke '78 shared his definition of leadership, the powerful lessons he learned as a young lieutenant, and how that's carried over into a new teaching career, his most challenging career yet! Join us for this episode!

Retired CIA Agent, former marine, and entrepreneur Karl Renne ’96 is a founding partner and CEO of Ghost Wolf Industries. Learn why Renne says leaders benefit from learning from all kinds of individuals and the common mistake he and others make early in their careers. Join us!

Holly Njabo, VMI Class of '20, says VMI's recruitment video, research, and a beautiful acceptance letter influenced her decision to enroll sight-unseen! She didn't know it, but she was learning even then to 'Go with the Flow.' Hear more about her leadership development journey in this episode!

Will Nicholson '21 is president of the

International Studies Major and Cadet Chaplain LeAndrew Jefferson is a First-Class Cadet from Southwest Detroit, MI. He discussed his introduction to VMI, the VMI network, VMI as a leadership laboratory, growing into his studies, and the difficulty of the new reality during COVID restrictions. 

Forbes coach, leadership consultant, author, and podcaster alumnus Kevin Black '99 gives an energetic and passionate interview with insights he's identified in leadership development.

Jordan Ward '21 says there's not much about leadership that he didn't learn from football. Said Ward, "Our Motto was '10 Toes Down' and if we can ensure that everyone is focused on the same goal, we'll be able to accomplish that as long as everyone's all-in trusting in one another." Listen here.

Whitney Roberson is a history major from Chesapeake, VA, captain of the women’s soccer team, president of the Promaji club, an investigator for the CEA (Cadet Equity Association), and the vice president of SAAC (Student Athletic Advisory Committee). She learned leadership in 'little moments.'

Chief EMT Allen Xu '21 came to VMI to 'do something more.' His plans are to commission and eventually become an Army doctor. Said Xu, '...Be humble is the most important thing. Because when you come at it from a more humble point of view, you'll realize how much there is left to learn.'

We sat down with VMI's first female regimental commander, Kasey Meredith '22, to talk to her about leadership style. She stressed the importance of working as a team, delegation, her support team, and her rat-dyke relationship.

As a leader, do you lead by example? Lt. Gen. Gwen Bingham, U.S. Army (Ret.) sure does! Learn more about her leadership principles and which leadership skill or competency does she value most? Listen in to find out!

Dr. Love applied to VMI because she loves working at unique colleges. She was also inspired by the kind of character it takes for a student to volunteer to attend a military-style school. Said Love, “I didn’t just want to teach people about something that I wasn’t actually living out.”

After participating in the Feb. 18th Courageous Leadership panel discussion detailing the first U.S. mission behind enemy lines in Afghanistan, alumni Spellmeyer, '90, and Sapp, '94, sat down to share some gained insights they've acquired since graduating from VMI.

Our interview covers Walder's experiences working in the male-dominated world of national security, her leadership competencies, and how she was able to take hold of her own destiny through perseverance, determination, and education. She now devotes her time to being an upstander for women.

Seth McRoberts' says his thoughts on citizen leadership are that the leadership journey isn’t finished when one leaves VMI or the military but that we ought to bring that expertise back into any organization where we belong to make a lasting impact.

Former first battalion executive officer and center intern 2nd Lt. Derek Shockey, '22 discusses his experiences with leadership roles in the class system and regimental system, recovering from leadership failure, and the projects he's working on for this year's Annual Leadership Conference.

Hear Erika Cheung, CEO of Ethics in Entrepreneurship, share some lessons she's learned from her time at the failed Silicon Valley tech start-up Theranos, her later work in biotechnology in Asia, and her experiences with venture capitalism that inspired her to start her own nonprofit.

Retired Col. Rick Kiernan, VMI Class of 1966, shares insights on the Institute's 150-year track record of graduating successful cadets. He discusses the media's propensity for negativity,  the importance of context in any story or discussion, and his thoughts on leadership as an iterative process.

COVID, an investigation, loss... VMI's Class of 2023 has had a unique and 'wild ride,' according to First-Class President Cadet Cameron Cavanaugh. Join us for this discussion of the challenges they faced and some of their lessons learned.

In this episode, Sibi Bagavathy, an economics and business major, discusses with podcast host Maj. Catherine Roy about the efforts to educate his Honor Court peers and the Corps of Cadets on following VMI's Honor Code.

VMI is one of 10 colleges nationwide to be named a Braver Angels' College Debates and Discourse Alliance’s Communities of Practice. This episode features insights about the program from faculty mentors and cadet fellows.

Retired U. S. Navy Cmdr. Kirk Lippold was the closing speaker at this year's Annual Leadership & Ethics Conference. He spoke on "Leading During Crises," through the narrative of the Al Qaeda terrorist attack on the U.S.S. Cole in 2012. His talk is not public, but he granted us this interview.

Our conversation with Riley Shultz, VMI Class of 2024, explores his leader development leading up to becoming CIC for both the Cadets' Superintendent's Advisory Board and the Intercollegiate Ethics Club. Shultz provides a great overview of CSAB and talks heavily about his mentorship experiences.

First Classman Kate Taylor, '24, is a civil engineering major and member of VMI's Swim and Dive team. She has been involved with CLE programs for three of her four years at VMI. Taylor says she found 'abundance in structure,' mentors who helped her focus on productive goals, and inspiration.

Our conversation with Brad Snyder, a Navy veteran, Paralympic gold medalist, and author, will reveal some behind-the-scenes insights into his memoir, "Fire in My Eyes." We'll discover what inspired him to write a memoir and some of the leadership lessons offered in the book.

Burns examines leadership in light of rapidly evolving technology and societal shifts. He underscores the necessity of fostering trust, building effective communication channels, and maintaining accountability in team settings.