Cavalier Daily Staff Writers
Virginia Military Institute cadet Erin Claunch has proved that the college's pioneer female recruiting class has adjusted to the formerly all-male institution.
Claunch, a member of the first VMI class to include females, was named yesterday as one of the school's two battalion commanders for next year.
As battalion commander - second in rank only to the regimental commander - Claunch will bear a "supervisory responsibility" over four companies of cadets, said VMI's Assistant Public Relations Director Chuck Steenburgh.
Her main duty will be coordinating the training of first-year cadets, or "rats," in all areas of military comportment, Steenburgh said.
He said Claunch's gender played no part in her appointment and that her accomplished career at VMI made her selection unsurprising.
Serving as regimental academics sergeant this year, Claunch already holds one of the top positions possible for a cadet, he added.
Claunch is "an extremely well-rounded woman," Steenburgh said. "She is pretty clearly one of the top three or four cadets in her class."
He said news of her appointment has been received enthusiastically and he has heard no concern over gender bias.
The College of William & Mary's Masters in Business Association program received an unexpected gift of $10 million from an anonymous donor.
This bequest is the largest in the history of William & Mary's School of Business Administration. School officials announced the donation Sunday.
Corinne Holland, executive assistant to the dean of the Education school, said the donor did not list any specific reasons for his donation.
She said the school plans to use the donation to suuport the Education School's MBA program.
According to Runnels, the gift will help establish new professorships and further fund faculty research.
It also will be used to increase scholarship funding for first- and second-year MBA students and fund a new building planned for the School of Business.
Virginia Tech received 12 percent more undergraduate applications this year than last year, and Virginia Tech Athletic director James Weaver said Virginia Tech's successful football season last year deserves some of the credit.
Weaver said the football season helped provide increased exposure, funding and good will towards Virginia Tech.
But Virginia Tech Director of Admissions Karen Torgersen downplayed the importance of the school's football team to its application increase. "A lot of people are trying to point to football, but I think that's a small factor," Torgersen said. "A lot of factors are coming together" to produce a higher application rate.
Read More
Winsome Earle-Sears talks higher education in first U.Va. event of the campaign
By Ford McCracken | 16 hours agoA Jamaican immigrant and a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, Earle-Sears is the first female lieutenant governor of Virginia,
U.Va.'s Earth Day Eco-Fair 2025 spotlights sustainability advocacy
By Leigh Bailey | 17 hours agoStudents from Contracted Independent Organizations and University Office of Sustainability leadership programs each shared their unique perspectives about sustainability advocacy on Grounds.
Student Council votes to relocate Hereford orchard and basketball hoop
By Lauren Seeliger | YesterdayStudent Council passed a resolution Tuesday to relocate the orchard and basketball hoop of Hereford Residential College due to construction in the surrounding area.
