Front & Center News from Fork Union Military Academy – April 1, 2022

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Stories in this issue:

• Ethan Schroyer Awarded the National Security Language Initiative for Youth Scholarship
• Have You Ordered Your Skirmisher?
• Happy Birthday to the March Babies!
• Fork Union to Host Ring Ceremony April 1
• College Acceptances
• Col Macek's Chemistry Class Launch Rockets
• Parent & Alumni Notes
• Upcoming Admissions Events
• FUMA Shooting Blue Devils Represent Excellence
• Do you want to be a part of our Cadet Corps?

Ethan Schroyer Awarded the National Security Language Initiative for Youth Scholarship

Fork Union Military Academy sophomore Ethan Schroyer has been awarded the US Department of State’s National Security Language Initiative for Youth Scholarship. The Initiative is a highly competitive and prestigious government funded scholarship that gives a small number of qualified and selective students the opportunity to immerse overseas for a period of time in a nation where a language that is critical to national security and diplomacy is spoken.

Schroyer will travel to Jordan this summer to study Arabic.

“Since Jordan borders Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Palestinian areas, I am ecstatic to hopefully gain a sense of cultural and geopolitical comprehension from interactions with those who have far greater understanding than I will ever gain from a classroom,” said Schroyer. “My time in Jordan will be spent primarily in Amman, studying both Modern Standard Arabic, and the colloquial dialect known as Shami or Levantine Arabic. I will be living with a Jordanian host family, which I am extremely excited for as I seek to become as immersed as I possibly can to gain a personal insight and understanding of the elements of Shami Arabic, Arab culture, Islam, regional history/conflicts, and so much more!”

The Initiative was introduced by George W. Bush in 2006. The annual acceptance rate for the program is typically 15-percent of the applicants which includes summer and year-long students. The Initiative aims to inspire selected students to utilize their language in careers within diplomacy, global studies, and national security. Alumni have reported many scholarships and acceptances to prestigious universities.

The scholarship offers languages such as Arabic dialects, Mandarin, Hindi, Indonesian, Korean, Persian (Tajiki), Russian, and Turkish. The countries/locations that students will commonly travel to in accordance with a selected language are China, Taiwan, South Korea, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Moldova, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, India, Indonesia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Jordan, Morocco, and Egypt.

“In all honesty, growing up I wanted to live a rather adventurous adult life serving overseas in less commonly traveled nations and the Middle East,” said Schroyer on why he picked Jordan. “From having a military father who spent much of his career overseas and having a group of Syrian Bedouin cousins who spent a large amount of time with me as a young boy, I was educated at a young age on mature and complex topics, from warfare and ideology to world religions and cultures.

“This has led me to seek a career and lifestyle in government service overseas helping foreign policy makers understand foreign conflicts, cultures, people, and nations.

“I wanted to pursue my goals for my education and career as early as I possibly could. I wanted to do this through immersive language study, so I found an opportunity to study a critical language of my choice, live in a less commonly traveled nation, and prepare for the career/lifestyle I hope to live. I am very grateful for this opportunity and scholarship.”

Congratulations, Ethan!

Fork Union to Host Annual Ring Ceremony on April 1

Fork Union Military Academy has many longstanding traditions, including the Ring Ceremony and Military Ball. This is a special week for our cadets as these two events fall on back-to-back days.

This Friday, the Academy gets to present class rings to juniors, seniors, and postgraduates in a special ceremony in front of their families and the Corps of Cadets in the Wicker Chapel.

In preparation for the ceremony, Academy President Colonel David Coggins has been sporting historic FUMA class rings each day this week, educating the cadets on the story that comes along with each unique band.

Monday’s featured ring is a ring from 1979—10-karat gold ring with a sapphire blue stone with “Body, Mind, Spirit” on the left side. “Aim, Ideals, Loyalty and Service” is etched on the right side.

Tuesday’s featured ring is a ring from 1962, donated by William L. Jones. It is a beautiful 10-karat gold, Balfour FUMA ring with a sparking ruby stone. Class of 1962 is etched on the right side.

Wednesday’s featured ring looks to be a pewter or sterling silver ring. It’s quite worn down, but still very classy and in the traditional FUMA ring style. Interestingly, while this one has no date or donor specified, the period is from the 1940s when gold was needed by the military for communications gear, plugs and connections, so it was unavailable for the public, and silver or platinum was used instead. This ring is a World War II era ring worn by a FUMA man.

Thursday’s featured ring is truly a throwback from Richard M. Hutchinson, Class of 1912. It’s a 10-karat gold ring with the FUMA crest on the face, 19 on the left side and 12 on the right side. Hutchinson has his initials, RMH, on the inside of the ring. It’s unique because it has been purposely cut in the back, probably to make it fit in his later years.

Friday’s featured ring will be the unveiling of the 2022 class ring.

The design of the FUMA ring has changed from time to time, according to the wish of the class. The stones for the ring are the cadet’s own choosing. He may select red, representing the ruby; blue, representing the sapphire; black, the onyx; green, the emerald and clear, the quartz. However, the ring of 1912 does not have a stone. In the place of the stone is an oval gold plate attached to the ring. The date is engraved on each side of the ring. Around the edge of the ring is engraved Fork Union Military Academy. In the center of the plate is the inscription: Veni, Vide, Vici.

The significance of a ring worn on the hand depends upon what it represents: marriage vows, a fraternal organization, authority as granted by a monarch or an ecclesiastical personage, an enduring friendship, or an accomplishment. The FUMA ring represents an accomplishment, a graduation from a distinguished military preparatory school. It can be said that the FUMA ring is a fraternal ring because the wearer is one of thousands of men who were FUMA cadets and who remember with gratitude and pride the camaraderie of their cadet days.

It is an exhilarating experience for a cadet after four years of hard work to see his class ring on his hand.

“Traditionally, we pray and ask God to bless the wearer of the rings and that they remain true to our motto of ‘Body, Mind, Spirit’ through FUMA’s core values of respect, integrity, faith, character, and discipline, throughout their entire life,” said Colonel Coggins. “We hope each of these cadets stay true and faithful to their FUMA brothers.”

This Week's College Acceptances

Our cadets in the Class of 2022 continue to stack up college acceptance letters!

Our goal each year is that 100% of our seniors gain college acceptance, and the Class of 2022 had already achieved that goal as of December 13th. This amazing accomplishment is a credit to the hard work done by our seniors and the excellent support given to each one of them by our College Placement and Academic Services team under the leadership of the department's Director, Kelsey Hill, and the Assistant Director, Dr. James Benson.

Congratulations to our seniors in the Class of 2022, and a big thank you to the members of our Department of College Placement and Academic Services!

Upcoming Admissions Events

The best way to learn about Fork Union Military Academy is to schedule an appointment with our Admissions Office and come for a family visit and receive your own individual tour of the campus.

We also schedule a number of Admissions Fairs in various cities and regions throughout the year. The available spaces at our upcoming admissions events have been filling up quickly with our Fairfax, VA admissions events.

Saturday, April 9 -- Admissions Fair in Fairfax, VA

• Meet with our admissions staff at an Admissions Fair on Saturday, February 19th, from 9 AM to 1 PM at the Fairfax Marriott at Fair Oaks.

Saturday, April 23 -- Admissions Event in Wayne, PA

• Join MAJ Gary Leydig on Saturday, April 23 from 10 AM to 12 PM at the Courtyard Philadelphia Valley Forge/King of Prussia Hotel in Wayne, PA to learn more about Fork Union Military Academy. Our host and 2003 alumnus Joe Davidson will also attend this event. Click here to register for this event.

Saturday, May 14 -- Admissions Fair in Fairfax, VA

• Meet with our admissions staff at an Admissions Fair on Saturday, February 19th, from 9 AM to 1 PM at the Fairfax Marriott at Fair Oaks.

FUMA Shooting Blue Devils Represent Excellence

The FUMA Shooting Blue Devils shotgun team had a busy weekend. On Friday, March 25, they attended the Virginia Military Institute (VMI) Ducks Unlimited Banquet at the Commonwealth Club in Richmond, Virginia. The Vasko family graciously sponsored our team with two VIP tables and allowed our cadets to meet several members of the VMI Clay Shooting team and support conservation and habitat through Ducks Unlimited. We met several Fork Union alumni as well, and it was a wonderful opportunity for our cadets to represent the school.

Saturday, March 26, the team was up early and on the road to Drake Landing in North Carolina to compete in the North Carolina Scholastic Clay Target Program (SCTP) State Championship sporting clay shoot. The North Carolina SCTP State Championship shoot was the best of the best of the SCTP junior high school, high school, and college level shooters. While we were not eligible to compete in the resident categories, we were still ranked for the shoot in SCTP and the National Sporting Clay Association (NSCA) systems. Our team is comprised of mostly first-time shooters and has only been practicing and competing since October 2021. Awesome scores were put up by all six of our cadets! Grayson Mitchell, a senior, a new shotgunner and our team captain, placed 1st in the non-resident, 1st in NSCA D Class, and 4th out of all 78 resident and non-residents shooters. He was only beat by two college level Master and AA shooters and two college level C level shooters.

While their performance as shooters was impressive, the most outstanding accomplishment from this weekend and in particular the shoot was the overflow of complements we received from other coaches, parents, and shooters. Shooting can be perceived as an individual sport even when competing in team competitions, but the FUMA Shooting Blue Devils stood out by working as a true team. Our cadets went out of their way to coach and support each other during the entire course, and this really separated them from their competitors. Not only did they look impressive in their DCU’s, but they conducted themselves with the utmost respect and integrity. Many parents and youth at the sporting clay shoot in North Carolina asked the cadets about FUMA, and they did the best recruiting job you can imagine!

FUMA Shooting Blue Devil team members include: Grayson Mitchell, Michael Luce, Trenton Maxwell, Hunter McDonnell, Jake Clodfelter and Cal Vasko.

Go FUMA Shooting Blue Devils!

Do you want to be a part of our Cadet Corps?

Are you a young man in the 7th to 12th grade? Do you want to be a man known for integrity, respect for yourself and others, faith, character, and discipline?

We encourage you to fill out an application for enrollment and join our cadets here at Fork Union Military Academy.

Thank you!