ECBU Stories

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.

Nearly two dozen traveled to Spain this summer for a study abroad program, with varying majors and minors represented, from economics and business, modern languages, history, computer science, engineering, and more. The five-week program allowed cadets to take classes at the Universidad de Alcalá.

Business and computer science were two industries that Warner Collier ’24 saw opportunity in. Coming to Virginia Military Institute, he wanted to cast as wide of a net as possible, which brought him to major in economics and business, with minors in computer science and cybersecurity.

Gaining real world experience was a high priority while attending college for James ‘Alex’ Baber V ’25. The economics and business major from Richmond, Virginia, landed an internship at Tandem Investment Advisors, headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina, for the summer.

“Having my brother here was definitely a perk,” Matthew said. “It was nice to know where I’m going to go, I already have a guaranteed friend. We were best friends growing up.”

Ty Swaim ’24 based his decision on attending VMI for the opportunity to play baseball, the trust he had with the coaching staff, and the expectations they had for him.

Leadership and regiment have been ingrained into Kyle Webster ’24 since beginning his time at Virginia Military Institute. In his last semester, he perfected the balance of academics and athletics. Although, he admits it was challenging.

The cadet regimen has worked out for Tyler Mousaw ’24. Plus, being a D1 athlete on VMI’s wrestling team has enabled him to find ways to balance everything.

Virginia Military Institute recently welcomed three representatives from NATO’s Innovation Hub, a formal civilian organization that reports to NATO Allied Command Transformation located in Norfolk.

Blake Smith ’23, an economics and business major and this year’s regimental commander, has a moving story behind his success. He did not achieve the highest-ranking position a cadet can earn without inspiration, and that inspiration comes from his sister Ashley.

VMI has been designated as one of only ten colleges in the nation to be named a “Community of Practice” from Braver Angels, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting civil discourse, in their College Debates and Discourse Program, through a grant from the John Templeton Foundation.

Members of the Cadet Investment Group (CIG) recently traveled to Wall Street in New York City, New York to meet with stock market analysts and traders, including VMI alumni who work in the industry.