Volume XXXIII, Number 3, November 2005 Ground Broken for Football Stadium Improvements By Lt. Col. Stewart MacInnis Editor P. Wesley Foster Jr. ’56 pushed Foster is chairman and chief a spade into the soil of Alumni executive officer of The Long & Memorial Field on Sept. 23 as the Foster Companies. He pledged symbolic beginning of a yearlong $8 million for renovations and project to renovate and improve improvements to the stadium at VMI’s football facility. Alumni Memorial Field. The P. Wesley Foster Jr. Class Foster has built the Fairfax, Va., of ’56 Stadium that is scheduled based Long & Foster Real Estate to emerge in the fall of 2006 will Inc., a subsidiary of The Long feature expanded football team & Foster Companies, into the facilities in adjoining Clarkson- largest privately owned real estate McKenna Hall, refurbished brokerage firm in the nation. In stadium seating, renovated addition to Long & Foster Real concession areas and restrooms, Estate Inc., The Long & Foster improvements to the football Companies include Prosperity practice field, and extensive Gen. J.H. Binford Peay III ’62 and P. Wesley Foster Jr. ’56 break Mortgage, Mid-States Title, and landscaping. ground for improvements to the football stadium. Looking on are Long & Foster Insurance. The Other improvements include players, Institute officials, and architects. – VMI Photo. companies operate in seven states new restrooms and a completely in the Mid-Atlantic region. modified concession concourse, new stairs and railings, improved A cadet-athlete while at VMI, Foster has been a long-time supporter of seating, and handicapped-accessible facilities. the Institute. Foster received the VMI Foundation’s Distinguished Service “This ceremony demonstrates we are underway with major Award in 2003. He has served on the board of governors of the VMI reconstruction and a number of important improvements to our Keydet Club for two years, was instrumental in VMI’s sesquicentennial stadium complex,” said Gen. J.H. Binford Peay III, superintendent, campaign effort in the Washington, D.C., area, and served on the VMI during the groundbreaking. “It is creating momentum to encourage Foundation Board of Trustees for six years. He also served on the others to support Vision 2039 in its infancy.” campaign executive committee for Reveille, A Call to Excel, the recently concluded capital campaign for VMI. Foster has created scholarships, including several that provide grant- Institute Report Please see page 2 Available Electronically As a new service, readers of the Institute Report can sign up for a free electronic subscription to the publication. The subscription provides a worldwide E-mail notification of the availability of the publication when it is posted on the VMI Web site. In the notification is a link to the latest issue of the Institute “Distinguished Marines” Stamps Issued ........................... 2 Report usually available well before the print version is mailed. The Lanford Receives Distinguished Service Award ................ 3 Institute Report will be available as a PDF file, a format that presents Cadet Takes Leadership Role in Open House Events ........ 4 documents in a form nearly identical to a printed version. The file Internships Demonstrate Importance ............................... 5 can easily be printed on a home or office printer for a hard copy. Cadets Contribute to Senior Military Conference .............. 6 To enroll, fill out the brief subscription form (www.vmi.edu/ Institute Establishes New Science, Security Minor ........... 7 subscribe/) on the VMI website. Parents Council Meeting a Success ................................... 8 JROTC Leadership Symposium Hosted by VMI .................. 9 PAGE 2, THE INSTITUTE REPORT, NOVEMBER 2005 Lt. Gen. John A. Lejeune, superintendent from 1929 to 1937, and Lt. Gen. Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller ’21, are among four Marines on new “Distinguished Marines” stamps. The two Marines with VMI connections were recognized in a ceremony on Nov. 10, the first day of issue, in the Turman Room on Preston Library. Also honored with commemorative 37-cent stamps were Medal of Honor winners Gunnery Sgt. John Basilone and Sgt. Maj. Daniel J. Daly. NCAA Certifi cation Milestone Reached By Lt. Col. Stewart MacInnis Editor A review team headed by the Superintendent of West Point is scheduled and Col. Robert Spore. to visit post this February in the culminating event in VMI’s 10-year The purpose of the certification program, which all Division I National Collegiate Athletic Association recertification cycle. institutions undergo once every 10 years, is to ensure integrity in athletic VMI submitted a 136-page Self-Study in early October that addressed operations. The Institute community and the public have been involved the areas the NCAA asks all colleges and universities to consider in their in the self-study process to increase their awareness and knowledge efforts to comply with its collegiate athletics standards. Specific areas of the athletics program, while helping to affirm the strengths of the include governance and commitment to rules compliance; academic athletics department and develop plans to improve areas of concern. integrity; and equity and student-athlete welfare. The NCAA sets standards VMI completed its first NCAA certification cycle in 1996. within each area of study and uses them to evaluate all Division I The NCAA peer review team will use the Self-Study Report and members. interviews with Institute personnel to evaluate the Institute’s work and Brig. Gen. Robert L. Green, deputy superintendent for finance, make a certification recommendation to the NCAA’s Division I Committee administration and support, is leading the VMI certification committee. on Athletics Certification, which ultimately determines an institution’s Other committee members include faculty and staff members from certification status. across the Institute, as well as athletics department personnel and The completed Self-Study Report is posted on the VMI Web site (www. cadets. Leading subcommittees that drafted the three major sections of vmi.edu/self-study/). the self-study report were Brig. Gen. Lee Badgett, Col. William Stockwell, Football Stadium Continued from page 1 in-aid assistance to football players who “walk on” to the team or who don’t have full scholarships. He has been a consistent and generous donor to the Foundation Fund Inc., as well as a discretionary fund for the Department of English and Fine Arts. Produced by the Offi ce of Communications and Marketing The renovations that will begin this fall will change the feel of Col. Sonny Craven, USA (Ret.), Director Alumni Memorial Field. The new stadium will create an entrance Lt. Col. Stewart MacInnis, Associate Director plaza at the Cameron Hall corner complete with permanent ticket Burton Floyd, Publications Coordinator Wendy Lovell and Sherri Tombarge - Special Contributors booths, restrooms, concessions, and a donor recognition wall. Pillars Kevin Remington, Photography representing the familiar VMI architecture spanned by wrought iron Printing – The News-Gazette, Lexington, Va. fencing will continue around the perimeter of the stadium, replacing Eight issues are printed during the academic year. Inquiries, suggestions, news the current chain link fencing. items, or address changes should be directed to Editor, The Institute Report, VMI Communications and Marketing, Lexington, Virginia 24450-0304, Telephone 540-464- 7207, Fax 540-464-7443 THE INSTITUTE REPORT, NOVEMBER 2005, PAGE 3 Lanford ’52 Receives Distinguished Service Award By Scott Belliveau ‘83 Contributor The VMI Foundation presented its Distinguished Business People of the Year for the entire Commonwealth Service Award (DSA) to John C. “Jack” Lanford ’52 on of Virginia. Mr. Lanford now is chairman of the board Founders Day 2005 at a ceremony at Cameron Hall. emeritus of Lanford Brothers. The Award is the Foundation’s highest honor and is Although running these businesses was demanding, reserved for those alumni and friends of the Institute Mr. Lanford actively supported his profession as a long- who have displayed exemplary dedication to the Institute time member of the American Road and Transportation and its mission and worked diligently on behalf of the Builders Association and served as the association’s Foundation and VMI. chairman in 1991. In 1999, John and Stan Lanford helped As with all those who have received this honor before to establish a scholarship program to aid the children of him, Mr. Lanford is a leader in his profession and his highway workers killed in work-related accidents. community. After graduating from the Institute and Mr. Lanford has long been a generous donor to the serving for two years as an officer in the U.S. Army’s Institute, giving to support every aspect of the VMI Corps of Engineers, Mr. Lanford entered his family’s road John C. Lanford ’52 education. From 1994 to 2002, he was a member of the grading and excavating business. In 1956, he took over Foundation’s Board of Trustees. In those years, he served the day-to-day running of the business with his brother, Stan, and, four on the executive committee, the nominating and awards committee, and years later, the brothers incorporated Lanford Brothers Company. Over property management and gifts committee, becoming the chairman of time, they took the firm in a more specialized direction and eventually the property management and gifts committee and the nominating and focused solely on bridge repair. In the early part of this decade, Lanford awards committee. Brothers was operating in Virginia and the Carolinas and taking on more Commenting on the decision of the Trustees to award Mr. Lanford than 250 projects annually. the DSA, George P. Ramsey III ’72, the president of the VMI Foundation, In 1985, Lanford Brothers bought half interest in Adams Construction said, “Jack Lanford personifies those alumni who always are ready to Company, a firm providing asphalt paving for construction projects make room for work on behalf of the Institute no matter how great the throughout Virginia, and Mr. Lanford became its president. The demands of their professional lives.