The Extra Mile: Building BRIDGES

Emma Funkhouser ’24 grew up in Rockbridge County, often attending events at Virginia Military Institute. She knew she wanted to make an impact, somehow, while attending college and into the future. 

“I got to see the character of people who came out of here and see the success that people were set up for here,” she said.  

That was one of the main reasons she chose to attend VMI.

Giving back and being part of the community is in her blood. Her father is a police officer, and she grew up participating in Girl Scouts.  

“I grew up with that aspect of giving back to the community, it is one of the best things you can do,” she said. 

She’s the cadet in charge (CIC) for VMI’s Building BRIDGES Club, which bridges the gap between VMI cadets, faculty, and staff and the community. Bijon Bose ’24, the other CIC for the club said he was drawn to serve his community, and helping out the community is just part of being a cadet.  

“This club is important to VMI because all cadets should be willing to serve in a capacity greater than themselves or serve others,” said Bose, a computer science major. “Every cadet at least should want to serve others. You don’t come to VMI with selfish intentions. We have our code of cadet; we have rules for how cadets should act. I think Building BRIDGES provides cadets a way to engage with the community where they wouldn’t have been able to do so by themselves.” 

Some goals of the club include facilitating learning outside the classroom, while providing space to have discussions concerning societal issues. The club helps develop the citizen -soldier mindset, while expanding critical thinking skills, promoting the ideas of selflessness, and creating compassionate engagement in the community.  

From guest speaker events, the Braver Angels debates, building with the area’s Habitat for Humanity, helping the Rockbridge SPCA, to making holiday postcards for local assisted living facilities, mentoring school children from kindergarten through grade 12, the club touches all aspects of the community. 

Funkhouser and Bose are both cadet EMTs, so they have a pulse on what sort of things need to be addressed in the community — both on and off post. One of the foundational aspects of VMI is creating citizen-soldiers, said Funkhouser, a chemistry major, who is pre-med. Building BRIDGES emphasizes the citizen aspect of that. She said that VMI focuses a lot on the soldier aspect, so this club helps cadets interact and connect with the community.  

Bose, Funkhouser, along with Madelyn Kennedy ’25, assistant CIC, hold a meeting at the beginning and end of the year. Throughout the two semesters, though, the club acts as a call-to-action group. There are several service projects or activities the club participates in — anytime there’s an event or activity, there’s a bulletin sent out asking for volunteers.  

The club is made up of about 40 members and holds dozens of different activities throughout the year. Bose said there’s no set schedule on what they do. It’s even open for rats to join.  

Most of the club’s events on post are open to the full VMI community, so a lot of cadets who are not in the club participate. Hundreds of cadets have participated in the club’s fall debate, the Social Business Standards event, the fall Life, Culture and Society film event, and the Native American Heritage event. 

“The nature of the things that we do is very dynamic. We’ll have people from the community reach out to us on a few day’s’ notice,” he said. “Some weeks ago, a few of us went to the public library and we helped out with moving shelves there and that was on short notice.” 

Col. Valentina Dimitrova-Grajzl, along with Lt. Col. Sara Whipple and Dr. Sabrina Laroussi, are faculty co-advisors for the club. Dimitrova-Grajzl said the club aims to build relationships and connections between people. 

“That is very meaningful, especially when technology facilitates living in our echo chambers and augments divisions,” she said. “Our club leaders have the opportunity to be creative, to communicate with multiple stakeholders, and to learn how to organize events. All of our club members have the opportunity to develop new skills, gain a sense of efficacy, and develop an appreciation for community engagement and service. We are very proud of the work of our club leaders and members. Cadets always do exceptional work, which is why the community reaches out to us with volunteer opportunities on a regular basis.”

Bose said he can see that they are fostering good relationships between VMI and the community. 

“I think it shows the community that cadets are always there to help. People from the community reach out to our club all the time because they know that we’re kind of the liaison between cadets and the community,” he said. 

Funkhouser said the club serves as a reminder for the Corps of the type of standards they are held to. 

“I think the Corps really appreciates the fact that we do set up events for everything and have that kind of in with our community,” she said. “If you need help, absolutely let us know. Anybody would be willing to do anything for you.”