"The Guidon"[clarification needed] Valley Forge Military Academy and College, The academy's Head of School is Lauren Wochok and Robert F. Smith is the college's provost. It is known as "Valley Forge Military Academy and College". McMaster, a former national security adviser to President Donald Trump; and author J.D. In addition, school administrators said that Mrs. Lord is still welcome on campus. VFMA is a private, all-male, boarding and day college preparatory school for students in grades 7-12 A senior at Valley Forge Military Academy, Boyuan Wang is a Gold Star Honor Roll Student, Company Commander of E Battery, a member of the National Honor Society and a member of VFMA's team for . I never really felt like they were following financial aid procedures, one former staffer recalled. The Academic Program at VFMC leads to an Associate of Arts, an Associate of Science, or an Associate in Business Administration degree. Another slide depicted Rivera as particularly abusive, a contention bolstered by numerous staffers and cadets, including one who remembers Rivera routinely ordering Schumacher into his office just to scream at him. After the rousing performance, Ormandy heralded the cadets as the "Philadelphia Orchestra of Military Bands" and was inspired to produce an updated recording of the overture. Several investigations were launched in recent years into alleged cadet-on-cadet brutality and violent episodes of hazing, including waterboarding and a practice called toothpasting that involved ritually sodomizing fellow students with a lacrosse stick. PUBLISHED: February 24, 2023 at 11:19 a.m. | UPDATED: February 26, 2023 at 1:31 p.m. RADNOR Radnor's school board unanimously rejected a plan to create a new charter school at Valley Forge . VFMAC's Commandant of Cadets is Garrison Sergeant Major William Mott.[15]. No one could pronounce Triola, so they shortened my name to Troll, which amused me since many students' names had far . Taps: Directed by Harold Becker. According to a statement from VFMA spokeswoman Jennifer Myers, school officials were first notified Sunday "of possible inappropriate actions involving Academy Guidance Counselor . Alumnus Al Ciardi, a longtime critic of the board of trustees, denied that, saying the FBI had investigated and determined that the alleged threats were unfounded. Though military in tradition and form, the high school portion of VFMAC, Valley Forge Military Academy, is a college-preparatory boarding institution specializing in student . When the schools official alumni association board of directors again challenged the trustees on multiple issues in 2019, the trustees simply disbanded the alumni group. Current president Helgeson, who runs the school day to day, decried the insurrectionist alumni. It began admitting female students in its junior college in 2005. The full dress headdress is the Academy Capshield with the VFMAC institutional arms on it, worn on all full dress uniforms since 1980, replacing a similar shako-styled cap with the arms. [3] The highest decoration in the institution, the Order of Anthony Wayne, was made in tribute to the heroism of the first Corps of Cadets on the night that the first campus burned down. We have to be honest about the fact that we are fed up with the current leadership failures at Valley Forge, Picone said. Salinger, among others, has been in a downward spiral, say upstart alumni who point to manifold problems. Basic ECP eligibility and entrance requirements include a minimum cumulative high school Grading in education grade point average of 2.0 on a 4.0 scale (2.5 for scholarship); a minimum SAT score of 850 (Math and Verbal sections only); pass a Department of Defense Medical Examination (arranged by Army ROTC); pass the Army height/weight and physical fitness standards; have U.S. citizenship (original naturalization document issued by INS or state-issued birth certificate); and be between 17 and 27 years of age and of good moral character. Officials constantly worried about themselves and covering their own asses, says a former longtime TAC. Like most American boarding schools, academics at the academy and college are demanding and highly competitive, and there is a mandatory two-hour nightly "study hall" period from 7:30 pm to 9:30 pm in the students' barracks. Several alumni who serve in the armed forces told me that nothing in their military experience has been as harrowing as their years at the Forge. It has formed a partnership that will license the schools name to a leadership academy in Doha, Qatar. He now represents the former cadet who filed the tooth-pasting lawsuit, and three others who allege that, as minors, they, too, experienced tooth-pasting and other abuse at the Forge from 2014 to 2018. (The board rejected the plan, citing trustees dearth of educational experience and a lack of competent curriculum guidelines, and accused the Forge of trying to subsidize its private school with taxpayer dollars.) Finally, in a decision the cadets would feel acutely, Helgeson promoted TAC J.J. Rivera, a fellow Marine, to the title of commandant. And the female cadets were met with hostility. Established in 1928, Valley Forge Military Academy and College is an international leadership institution, comprised of a middle school, high school, and college. Another difference is in the rank system, a hybrid of United States and British military ranks, and the insignia the school utilizes. The son of working-class parents, Lord grew up in an Irish Catholic neighborhood in South Philadelphia. Founded in 1928, Valley Forge Military Academy and College offers an all-boys' prep school for cadets through high school, and a two-year co-ed junior college program. It also relied on well-to-do foreign students, who pay higher tuition. People could do whatever they wanted, the young woman told me. [13] However, discussions for the proposed joint venture ended when the two schools were unable to find mutually agreeable terms.[14]. Court activity on March 12: Valley Forge Military Academy and College vs Roman E. Yang. Rules werent being enforced.. Twice a day they were given a special diet of 1/2. Members of B Company Infantry Unit from Valley Forge Military Academy march on Lancaster Avenue during the Memorial Day Parade in Radnor. But the kind of torment Valley Forge kids were subjected to, trauma that can leave psychological wounds as deep as those borne by soldiers on a battlefield, is impossible to justify. Going to close soon. The culture was rife with abuse of every part of a persons being. Recalls another alum: I didnt feel like a human the majority of the time I was there.. Valley Forge is one of roughly 40 accredited military schools nationally, and its declining attendance tracks Americas move away from a military-style education that includes uniforms and a hierarchy aimed at teaching leadership. 2 days ago VFMA is a member of the PIAA and competes in 13 inter-school sports teams, and VFMC is a member of the NJCAA, Region 19, with 11 men's and women's sports. The Valley Forge Military College Cybersecurity Certificate, recognized by the NSA and DHS as a Center for Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense for two year colleges (CAE2Y), prepares cadets and students for a high-demand career in information security. It is the only corps of cadets in the United States to retain a traditional mounted battalion (squadron), consisting of one cavalry troop and one artillery battery. Valley Forge also briefly employed a former soldier named Steve Stefanowicz as a TAC overseeing middle and high schoolers, until staffers discovered hed been a key player in the Abu Ghraib torture scandal. We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal. Amid money woes, administrators have curtailed sports, slashed courses, and assigned teachers to unfamiliar subjects, leading to an academic decline so steep that some Forge cadets complain certain colleges no longer accept transfer credits for many of their courses. Military cadets take extreme measures to ensure the future of their academy when its existence is threatened by local condo developers. When cadets circulated a petition demanding Bliss be held accountable, Thayer expelled its 189 signatories and court-martialed the five organizers for leading a mutiny., The incident helped codify a punitive atmosphere that has plagued military academics and the armed services they populate ever since. Valley Forge Military College Cadets wear a Royal Military Academy Sandhurst style uniform. The foundations stated intent is to financially support cadets and supply oversight of the school. Even the Regimental Band reflects this practice in recent years, having been now patterned in the style of the Royal Marines Band Service and British Army line infantry bands. Along with my colleagues here, we bear great responsibility to those students entrusted to our care. At least five cadets I interviewed identified Rivera, a former helicopter pilot who didnt respond to multiple requests for comment, as one of the most abusive TACs. On April 18, 2019 a lawsuit was filed under the pseudonym . Nearly 4,000 parents and alumni signed a petition imploring the board of trustees to work out their differences with Lord so that he could be reinstated. Regional Campaigns, IOPs, & Collaboration Initiatives. Study Hall, supervised by faculty officers in rotation, is mandatory for most cadets from Sunday through Thursday. In junior college, hoping to thwart such attacks, he and some of his Forge classmates took on overnight surveillance shifts. Its more Lord of the Flies than The Catcher in the Rye. Walt Lord, a popular but short-lived school president, agrees: It became Last Chance U, which was a revenue driver but also cancerous to the Corps of Cadets.. The officer ranks used above were briefly reinstated in 20142016. Those who desire active service may compete for a position and serve in the active component of the Army after earning their bachelor's degree. The process took 6 weeks. Out on patrol that night, Schumacher told me, he felt on the brink of darkness.. by VFMAC Admin | Oct 20, 2022 | Alumni Honoring VFMAC's Fallen Heroes Allen E. Stanko 55C TAPS8/28/2020 William H. Cressler '56 '58C TAPS9/13/2022 . All Rights Reserved. Non-Black administrators collectively referred to Black cadets as a gang, the lawsuit claimed, and unruly non-Black cadetsone literally spat in the face of a staff member; another elicited a swat response by threatening to blow up the schoolwere allowed to remain on campus, while her kid was suspended over a racially charged fight he wasnt even involved in. The organization of the Corps, similar to the rest of the United States military junior colleges, is unique because the school organized it as a full regiment of three battalions, two infantry, and one mounted. Our graduates have an impactful role in the world one that requires discipline, sacrifice, and acceptance that inward focus is limiting and outward focus beyond self is what can make a difference in and for the world. (In a response to the lawsuit, the school disputed her account of the incident.). With school leaders doing little to address the fraught campus atmosphere, Schumacher had taken it upon himself to patrol the grounds as often as possible. SPONSORED. To close budget gaps, they chopped haphazardly, deferring major maintenance projects, gutting academic programs, and laying off dedicated employees. Location: 1001 Eagle Road, Wayne, PA 19087. But in November 2004, the board of trustees booted Long for an alleged pattern of sexually harassing employees. (Two of the cadets former classmates confirmed that he told them this story shortly afterward. English said the ban was because some of those alumni posted images on social media depicting trustees in the cross-hairs of a rifle scope. From the early West Point scandals to recent reports of hazing at the Virginia Military Institute, abuses at military schools have been codified in American culture through media reports, literature, and Hollywood tropes. The institutional full dress is gray blue with black pants (for the academy cadets only as of the present), and from 2009 onwards, a British-styled all-dark blue polo and pants for the college. In the Spring Major 2021 season, two players (one middle school, and one high school) qualified for the national playoffs in Super Smash Bros Ultimate and finished the tournament in the top 16 players nationally for their respective league tournaments. The school discontinued the College Athletic Program at the end of the 20192020 school year. A combat-tested, exceptional leader. About us. Priced at roughly $45,000 for tuition, room and board, it is the last military academy in Pennsylvania. Formal military education emerged in Europe during the 18th century and was embraced by the colonial brass during the Revolutionary War. Cadets who achieve academically and in personal efficiency and leadership are allowed additional leaves and local leaves into Wayne and to the King of Prussia mall. Cadet senior NCOs carry British Army pace sticks. A couple of the TACs came from Glen Mills, a Pennsylvania penal school that the state shut down in 2019 amid allegations of child abuse. They give guys the ax quite frequently at Pencey. These parts of Salingers depiction no longer seem so apt. In a lawsuit filed last year in Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, a former student alleged that he was sodomized with a lacrosse stick as part of the hazing ritual called toothpasting. Brian Kent, a lawyer for the former student and his parents, said the Title IX lawsuit is ongoing and is now in the discovery phase. Our charge is to grow them into students of the world and leaders of tomorrow to help them envision something more and something better, and to help them find their roles in it. ET. [4], In April 2019, a former Cadet sued Valley Forge Military Academy for abuse and extreme negligence from the school administration. We keep hoping these guys would go away, Helgeson complained to the newspaper. As he sped off, he began crying. Valley Forge is one of roughly 40 accredited military schools nationally . NASA Education Earth Science Projects. Founded: 1928. But Michael Karson, a clinical psychologist and professor at the University of Denver who specializes in child abuse, told me that one of the few hard laws in his field is as follows: Punishment doesnt work to change peoples character, he says. Founded in 1928, Valley Forge Military Academy and College an all-boys private school for cadets in grades 6-12, and also offering a two-year coed college program is the only recognized military academy in Pennsylvania. All cadets must pass a board and earn a "capshield" to be a member of the Corps of Cadets. And if not this year, then soon.. She shared her story with several friends at the time (I spoke with two who confirmed this), one of whom proceeded to beat the shit out of the guy. Lord also provided intense guidance to misbehaving cadets and booted a handful whose behavior had become threatening. "Check in was slow, the parking lot was dark but the room was quiet and comfortable. He reflected, too, on the interesting collection of misfits hed befriended at the Forge, and the memories they shared, bad and good. Our dedicated team has already filed one physical and sexual abuse lawsuit against Valley Forge Military Academy and College. On selected weekends, Cadets are permitted to leave at home. It is, however, non-sectarian in practice, as the address, which focuses on character and leadership, is given by the distinguished military, civil, and academic leaders. Subsequently, the school was known as Valley Forge Military Academy and Junior College. A study by the Healey Educational Foundation, a Haddonfield-based consulting firm, found that enrollment at VFMAC had declined by more than 40% over the five-year period ending in 2018. With George C. Scott, Timothy Hutton, Ronny Cox, Sean Penn. The shield is of red and white vertical stripes with a blue field containing thirteen stars, one for each of the original states. Thus, the officer ranks used until 2014 and reinstated in 2016, but with improved insignia, are from that era, namely: On the Full Dress Uniforms, Cadet Officers wear rank insignia as on the "School Uniform", except that the Cadet 1st Captain wears braided shoulder knots with a full dress aiguillette in recognition of his role as the Corps Cadet Regimental Commander, who leads the entire Corps. The most comprehensive account of abuses at Valley Forge came in 2015, when Robert Wood, the schools Title IX officer, filed an explosive whistleblower complaint alleging that child abuse and sexual misconduct cases had been mishandled. [11] For the 201718 school year, the academy had 213 students in grades 712.[12]. They have no clue.. Condie. This rating has improved by 1% over the last 12 months. Nobody knew where the money was going, one recalled. It was the first thing that I know I accomplished on my ownthe first thing that I accomplished not because it was a giveaway or because someone felt bad for me or whatever. Entrusting students in leadership roles was all well and good, but a dearth of healthy adult oversight and accountability had contributed to a culture replete with assaults, verbal abuse, hazing, and sexual violence that had resulted in police visits, lawsuits, and a cold war pitting recalcitrant trustees and administrators against reform-minded parents, alumni, and cadets. Reserve, National Guard, and Retired Officers and NCOs, serving in their respective ranks, wear the rank and accouterments of their respective service arm. In an unpublished 1995 letter to a friend and former classmate, shared with me by the J.D. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and The Valley Forge Corps of Cadets, entirely student-run, is the only American military organization maintaining British rank, drill, customs, and ceremonies. Chef Boyardee, which they believed was intended for building upgrades that were never completed. 1 week ago Valley Forge Military Academy was founded in 1928 by Lieutenant General Milton G. Baker, Pennsylvania Guard (Retired). The Herald Fanfare Trumpets were brought to Valley Forge in 1953 by Colonel[clarification needed] D. Keith Feltham, Valley Forge Military Academy and College, L.R.A.M., A.R.C.M. We educate the whole person and develop leaders for a global society. Citing falling enrollment, weak finances, and mismanagement at Valley Forge Military Academy and College, a rebellious faction of school alumni is openly seeking regime change on the current board of trustees, claiming that a complete housecleaning is needed to preserve the institution. Citing privacy concerns, retired Marine Col. Stuart Helgeson, the schools president, said in a statement that the Forge has zero tolerance for hazing and illegal and inappropriate activity, thorough policies and procedures in place to address allegations of wrongdoing, and a proven track record of taking action to address concerns quickly and appropriately. The school, he added, will continue to manage matters that arise according to law, policy, and the best interest of the cadets entrusted to our care., School trustees and senior administrators, according to legal documents and numerous sources, have minimized rather than remediated the problems. Military schools increasingly became associated with discipline for kids with behavioral issues. Like most military academies, its a nonprofit run by a board of more than a dozen trustees and theyre responsible for strategic vision, Rottman said. McMaster, Donald Trumps former national security adviser. Theyre weakening the brand. But alums say intransigent board members are making things worse at Pennsylvania's last remaining military school. This prompted the schools lawyer to warn that firing him would amount to a retaliatory discharge based on Woods efforts to uncover serious breakdowns in how abuse allegations were dealt with. VFMAC. Lord and others alluded to a multimillion-dollar donation from the family of an alum, the son of Ettore Boiardi, a.k.a. Weve got a plan. Wood quit the Forge that year, in any case, after seven years on the job. Through Thursday been in a downward spiral, say upstart alumni who point to manifold problems a. In an Irish Catholic neighborhood in South Philadelphia and sexual abuse lawsuit against Valley Forge Military Academy College... 'S Commandant of cadets support cadets and supply oversight of the Corps of cadets in downward! At roughly $ 45,000 short of our $ 300,000 goal stated intent is to support... 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