Hidden
Honor
Cadet Brady Biller ’21
Company F private, civil engineering major, 3.2 GPA
Cadet Biller recently posted the following on Facebook. His post provides some background on this story circulating through VMI social media:
“Leadership is made, not born. I have almost completed my cadetship at the Virginia Military Institute. In 22 days, I will be graduating with a civil engineering degree. I’m currently on my last ever guard shift as the night Officer of the Guard while typing this thought. It’s 03:41 on a Saturday morning, and my shift ends at 07:00. All my hometown best friends at other universities just got done partying or going out to the local bars. After 4 years of being in barracks we’ve gotten used to “missing out” on a normal college experience. Yet, every now and then I still have the thought on why I came to VMI, even 22 days until I graduate. I just ponder how badly I want to get out of here. I’m thinking on why the hell I’m walking around barracks in the middle of the night with a flashlight while everyone is sleeping? I just want my life after VMI to start so I can finally have that freedom I’m craving so badly. With all these negative thoughts about this place and wishing time away, you would think I made a wrong decision signing the Matriculation Book Aug. 19, 2017. Shortly after feeling sorry for myself, a cadet walks into the guard room with a $100 bill and tells me that he found it by a stairwell. It’s pitch-black outside with no one around him and he had every chance just to walk away a little bit richer. I couldn’t help but smile; I’m not sure who was listening inside my head, but this was a moment where I was able to look past all the annoying aspects of being a VMI cadet and appreciate the bigger picture of what this institution upholds. I’m sure that cadet was raised with good intentions, but I know for a 100% fact that any other person at another school in the world would’ve ran off with that $100 bill. This is the reason why I became a VMI cadet. I believe that VMI has instilled in him and all other cadets the character and integrity he displayed tonight. I believe it’s bred into all of us here at VMI. We are taught from day one here on how to lead others. Now more than ever does this country need people like that cadet, they need all VMI cadets. This historical masterpiece of a school has been getting its name slandered by media outlets all around the state. It hurts me to think that people on the outside think VMI allows people to survive here with bad characteristics. A cadetship is no easy journey and VMI has a weird way of ridding the ones who don’t display the characteristics and integrity that we here try to instill into every single one who signs that Matriculation Book. A true VMI cadet supports all races, religions, and genders. VMI is the last of its kind, in my eyes it’s the Virginia Military Institute cadets who will shed light on this crazy time we are all living in. Not every person is perfect, and we can’t live to think anyone should be, but a VMI cadet is damn near close.”
Leadership and Academic Excellence
Cadet Troy Smith ’21
Regimental commander, computer science major, 4.0 GPA
Cadet Smith, who is commissioning in the Army, is the winner of the AMCSUS Leadership Award. He competed against the top nominees from each of the six senior military colleges. He was awarded an unconditional acceptance into Cambridge University for computer science.
Academics
Cadet Daniel Hamner ’22
Company H private, chemistry major, 3.76 GPA
Cadet Hamner is a rising 1st Class Institute Scholar and was selected from among 120 applicants for the Pauley Heart Center 2021 Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship at Virginia Commonwealth University. This fellowship is a very prestigious faculty-mentored cardiovascular research project. He aspires to be a physician.
Athletics/Leadership/Academics
Cadet Jordan Ward ’21
Company I, mechanical engineering major, 3.47 GPA
Cadet Ward was S6 staff (sergeant and corporal), Honor Court vice president for education, and starting defensive lineman for the football team. He served as football team captain and was the 2021 winner of the prestigious Three-Legged Stool Award.
Leadership and Military Excellence
Cadet Kasey Meredith ’22
Battalion sergeant major, international studies major, 3.4 GPA
Cadet Meredith was selected as the 2021-22 regimental commander (cadet first captain). She is a member of the VMI running and CrossFit clubs and holds a score of 300 on the VMI Fitness Test. She will commission into the U.S. Marine Corps through Officer Candidate School.
