A Look at VWIL During a Pandemic Semester

Flash back to the summer — VWIL’s Cadet First Captain Kristen Franklin ’21 faced a difficult situation. She and her fellow upper-class cadets needed to plan their in-person Cadre Week — when incoming first-year cadets, or nULLs, learn the ways of the corps in drills, training exercises, uniforms, procedures, and much more — entirely virtually.

“Here I am, the brand new commanding officer who’s assuming leadership through a global pandemic,” said Franklin, who’s majoring in sociology. “When August rolled around, I still did not know whether or not I was qualified for this. I just thought the whole thing would be a trainwreck. 

“I could not have been prouder. The corps rose to the occasion. The incoming nULL class learned and successfully started their integration process. Now, did the week go exactly as planned? Absolutely not! But we made it through and set ourselves up for a positive year.”

With safety modifications, the corps has worked to preserve the VWIL experience during the pandemic, including ROTC programs, leadership seminars, study hours and academic support systems, a virtual visit day, and the annual junior honors celebration. 

Outside, masked, and distanced, the corps continues their formations, and there’s also a virtual option for every gathering for those quarantined. A designated cadet stands back and captures the formation in real time for remote participants to join.   

“We were really laser focused on cadets who might have to quarantine and making sure they wouldn’t feel left out,” Djuric said. “The cadets have persevered through unique personal and professional challenges this semester; together their sense of duty and teamwork has been inspirational.”

Physical training, or PT, is a fundamental part of cadet life, and it’s meant to be tough. Wearing face coverings did make it tougher, especially on hot days when the material gets wet, loses permeability, and makes it more challenging to breathe.

“We stuck by it,” Djuric said. “Before school started, we were used to wearing face coverings all the time and setting the right example. If we’re running to Gypsy Hill, which is one of the cadets’ 3-mile routes, we’re all wearing face coverings.”

Participation in ROTC is important to the corps, with about 75% of cadets planning to commission in the military after graduation. VWIL cadets traveled weekly to VMI for ROTC classes, leadership labs, and monthly for field training, with all the MBU safety precautions in place both on the road and when they arrived. ROTC instructors came to the Mary Baldwin campus to support VWIL cadets in their PT sessions. Throughout the semester, ROTC classes offered virtual capability when needed to safeguard community health and during the two-week period of heightened restrictions.

“Leadership is the same even though you’re masked and socially distanced,” said Djuric. “We’re enabling the cadets to have the same leadership opportunities while modifying the execution to ensure everyone’s safety during the pandemic.”

The day before Election Day, VWIL hosted a leadership seminar focused on racial justice, giving cadets an opportunity to speak about how they were feeling. Cadets of color make up 55% of the corps, so VWIL strives to give all voices the opportunity to be heard. 

With public parades cancelled in Staunton and other cities, the VWIL marching band (which also contains student members who are not cadets) recently held an outdoor, socially distanced performance for a local assisted living home. With all the residents under quarantine in their rooms, band members serenaded them with veterans’ songs from an outside courtyard.

The fall semester has been tumultuous: the pandemic, racial injustice, a presidential election, and many other broad forces layered uncertainty and hardship on top of more expected student stressors like exams, part-time jobs, deadlines, and career plans.

“Everyone feels anxiety at different times in their life, and the pandemic certainly heightens that,” Djuric said. “On a daily basis, I hope we’re helping motivate our cadets to lead through anxiety.”

During the pandemic, Djuric and Command Sergeant Major Gerald Johnson, senior enlisted advisor, have encouraged cadets to pay close attention to their health and wellness, and take care of their fellow cadets and classmates.

“People definitely check in on each other more and try to make themselves available if others need anything,” Katie Keegan ’22, VWIL executive officer and applied mathematics major. “Of course people were kind and sympathetic towards each other before the pandemic, but I’ve noticed even more support and empathy throughout this semester.”

Visible through the challenges are silver linings, and skills that cadets are learning through the pandemic will help prepare them for their future. 

“I am a planner. I plan absolutely everything, and I love routine,” Franklin said. “But I’ve learned that we can’t always control what happens to us and in the world, no matter how much we’d like to. We can, however, decide how we react to what is going on, what we choose to learn from our experiences, and what opportunities we should seek out.”

In these kinds of lessons, it seems VWIL’s 25th anniversary year truly will stand the test of time.