During VMI’s Honors Week, Earl Filgo ’25 presented his thesis exploring how international rivalries impact global cooperation on climate change. A future U.S. Army military intelligence officer, Filgo combined national security, diplomacy, and environmental concerns in his research.

When Col. James Squire’s son was misdiagnosed with hearing loss, he began a years-long project to help parents understand how their children hear. Over nine years, three VMI cadets developed an app that simulates hearing loss using real audiograms.

Jonah Jurak's '25 firsthand experience observing public attitudes toward Morocco’s monarchy led him to explore how quasi-democratic systems function in autocratic regimes.

Brian Tavenner '25, an electrical and computer engineering major, researched the polarization and interstellar extinction around the star Gamma Cassiopeia for his honors thesis.

Jude Roberts '25, a computer science, analyzed the effectiveness of AI in resume selection for his honors thesis. Using ChatGPT to evaluate 1,000 resumes across various job categories, he found that AI was less accurate and more vulnerable to bias and manipulation than human hiring managers.

Patrick Kiernan '25 explored the complexities of school desegregation in his honors thesis, focusing on key Supreme Court cases from the 1960s and 1970s. His research examined the challenges of enforcing desegregation post-Brown v. Board of Education, highlighting how the process was complicated.

Brooks Freeman ’25, an English major at Virginia Military Institute, sought a common core between the philosophies of Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī, a 13th century Middle Eastern Sufi mystic and poet, and SØren Kierkegaard, a 19th century Danish philosopher, theologian, and poet, in his honors presentation.

Suzanne Leaptrot ’25 explored the intersection of comedy and political rhetoric in her honors thesis, examining whether comedians, like Colbert, engage in demagoguery by analyzing his monologues from the 2016, 2020, and 2024 conventions.

Simon Moore ’25 was drawn to Arthur Schopenhauer’s pessimistic views and honesty about pain and suffering. He said it might be considered a taboo subject, but it intrigued him.

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.”