Ankrah ’26: Class President

“I want to uplift others. I want to heal others, and I want to motivate others that they are way more capable than they think they are. So if I have the opportunity to do that, I’m going to do so.” That’s what Maximus “Max” Ankrah ’26 says about the internal drive that powers his VMI cadetship—and his leadership as both 2025–26 General Committee president and Class of 2026 president, the latter position being one he’ll hold for a lifetime. Ankrah is honored to lead his brother rats and excited for his future as an intelligence or medical corps officer in the U.S. Air Force.

The child of parents who immigrated to the United States from Ghana as teenagers and met while stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, where they were both serving in the military, Ankrah found himself drawn to military schools when the time came to choose a college. He was still considering his options when, in summer 2021, his family took a life-changing trip, traveling to Ghana to visit his grandparents.

“I still remember vividly, there were these kids right across the street from my grandma’s house, and they practically had nothing compared to me,” Ankrah stated. “These were the happiest kids I’ve ever seen. Like little to no clothing, no kitchen. They stayed in one room. It was a single mother of seven kids, and again, they were the happiest kids I’d ever seen. So coming back, I felt this dissonance because I felt bad that I was being ungrateful for what I had.”

For Ankrah, that unsettled feeling became a motivation to live differently. “That was more so a reason why I’m doing everything at VMI,” he explained. “I got to see what little people had, and they made it such a big deal, and I had pretty much everything at hand, and I didn’t make the most of it. Coming to VMI, that’s something I kind of promised myself—that any opportunities that came my way, I was going to take, and I was going to do the very best with them.”

Back on U.S. soil, it was time to choose a college. After attending an open house at VMI during his senior year of high school, Ankrah knew he’d found his perfect fit.

“Just seeing how everyone got along, seeing how people could just go in people’s rooms and just talk to each other—it was just a different type of bond that you just can’t get anywhere else,” said Ankrah of the factors drawing him to VMI. “I saw the other opportunities as well, to be able to commission in the Air Force. So that was the biggest thing for me: To be able to commission and to be able to just have a clean slate and start over and just build myself up.”

As a rat, Ankrah used his experience in Ghana and the advice of alumni to propel himself forward. “I would say, of course, the Rat Line isn’t fun. … It’s not the most pleasant experience. But with that, I remember I got some advice from alumni—don’t take things personally. And also, again, going to Ghana and seeing what people don’t have compared to what I do have. I have food. I have water. I have a place to stay. I have people who are yelling at me, but they clearly want me to succeed.”

After Breakout, Ankrah dove more deeply into his major—biology—and began to take advantage of all VMI has to offer. In addition to his Corps and class leadership positions, he’s a cadet EMT and assistant cadet in charge of the Aviation Club. As a 3rd Class cadet, he was a cadre corporal for Company C, and last year, as a 2nd Class cadet, a cadre sergeant.

As his responsibilities have increased, Ankrah has begun to notice a change in himself. “The transformation from being a rat to 1st Class has been pretty dramatic,” he noted. “I would say one thing I’ve noticed is just confidence—confidence in myself. I feel like once you’ve known you’ve done hard things, it kind of just brings the strength in you that you could do anything that you set your mind to. … And not just confidence, but I would just say social skills, being able to really interact with people.”

As he continues through his 1st Class year, Ankrah is well aware of the responsibility he carries. “My brother rats of 2026 trusted me enough to lead them to whatever goal we may have,” he stated. “So that on its own is just the biggest honor. I remember getting elected, and it was a pretty amazing feeling. It’s something you can’t really describe but just having so much love and so much support from your brother rats that they trust you to lead them—it’s amazing.”

Chief among Ankrah’s goals for his 1st Class year is ensuring that his class runs a well-disciplined Rat Line for the Rat Mass of 2026+3, and he plans to do so by emulating the model his class experienced when they were rats. “Something [the Class of 2023 president] did really well was bringing everyone together, no matter where we were from, from different backgrounds, from all different walks of life,” he noted.

Intangibles, too, are of concern to Ankrah—a unifying pride that comes from knowing you and others are doing the right things for the right reasons. “We need to make sure we’re instilling conduct within the Corps of Cadets so we can generally have that VMI spirit, and we can genuinely say, ‘I’m proud to go to VMI,’ and walk in integrity in everything we do.”

To run a successful Rat Line, Ankrah plans to draw on the fact that most rats want to do well. “The people who come to VMI, they’re already motivated, so it’s more just making sure you grab that part of them that’s motivated and wants to be here, and just hyping them up, motivating them,” he commented. “Being motivational—I’m a big fan of quotes and all that, so I try to use those as much as I can … getting that warrior ethos out of them.”

He’s also planning to appreciate his last year on post. “This place has blessed me with so much, not just with my friends, not just with leadership opportunities, of course, but just being able to say that I go to VMI—like having that pride that many alumni have come through and they’re successful in whatever field they’re in,” he said. “Whether it’s the civilian sector or the military, they’re doing well. I want to be part of that group. I want to be able to say that I took the hard route, and I did it to the best of my ability.”

Editor’s Note: This interview was conducted in spring 2025, at the end of Ankrah’s 2nd Class year.