446 Matriculate at VMI 

By Bob Holland  View Photos 

LEXINGTON, Va., Aug. 23, 2008 – It helped that the weather for Matriculation Day, Aug. 23, was less hot and humid than the August norm. But the Institute’s 446 matriculants also found many helping hands along the way, from their morning sign-ups to the culminating afternoon March Off to begin nine days of intensive training by the Cadre.

New cadets are formed into companies as they prepare to  "march off" to the Barracks and the beginning of Matriculation Week. – VMI Photo by Kevin Remington.

Col. Vernon Beitzel ’72, director of admissions, reported that 56 percent of matriculants were from Virginia, which met the Institute’s goal for in-state numbers, but others came from 31 states and six foreign nations. Among the new cadets were 39 women and 30 transfer students.

Matriculation at VMI can be a daunting and at times lonely experience. However, the Parents Council, led by co-presidents Ric and Cherry Tharp, took the initiative to ease newcomers into and through the process.

Identifying eight matriculants who arrived without parents, Parents Council members paired off with each of them to go through the sign-ups, the informational Matriculation Fair, the Barracks check-in, and lunch – even seeing them off at March Off.

One council member even drove to Richmond International Airport to pick up one matriculant who had no transportation to Lexington.

Noting that this was the fourth and final year for his and his wife Donna’s son, Dan Saragnese said this was “the most orderly Matriculation ever,” even including the traffic flow around the construction work on Post. He called it a “total team effort” of the administration, support personnel such as the Post Police, cadets, and the parents.

Donna Saragnese found it a very busy time but also “very rewarding” to be able to help many, such as the lone matriculants, through the process. The night before Matriculation, Dan and Donna, as co-chairs of the Parent’s Council’s Activities Committee, helped put on a reception attended by 500 incoming families and others at Evans Hall at Washington and Lee University.

The new parents had questions, and one of the basic answers was, “Our kids made it through; yours will, too, and we’re here to help,” said Donna Saragnese.

After welcoming remarks by the superintendent, Gen. J.H. Binford Peay, III ’62, the newcomers were formed into companies and marched off.

What happens next? As Zachary M. Youngsma ’09, regimental commander, explained:

“After March Off, the Rats can expect to meet the Cadre. We’re doing it a bit different this year – in Old Barracks as opposed to New Barracks because it allows us more space. Following that, the training begins.

“Training includes everything from haircuts on the first day to marching, facing movements, rifle manual, and introduction to their ROTC units. Days will be long, normally beginning at 0530-0600 [5:30 to 6 a.m.] and lasting until about 2200 [10 p.m.]. This time is needed because our Cadre takes an oath to take recent high school graduates and turn them into trained VMI Rats.

“Our expectations for this Rat Mass are high. We realize that any changes we want to make around this place must start with the Rats. They are our legacy here at VMI, and we need to put special attention on their training to ensure that it’s going in the direction we want it to.”

The overriding objective, added Youngsma, is to continue to raise the standard at VMI, thereby making the VMI diploma “more and more valuable to the military and employers.”

On Sept. 7, parents will be able to observe the New Cadet Oath Ceremony at New Market Battlefield State Historical Park and afterward can have lunch with their sons or daughters.

–VMI–