A most unusual occurrence in the storied VMI-Citadel rivalry, Citadel graduates gathered this past Saturday for their monthly Northern Virginia alumni meeting…. and they invited VMI men?
Proving, I suppose, that Citadel boys can take a joke. Their alumni chapter invited Mike Judge (VMI ’01), to give a short speech on his new book The Jeep (main plot: true story of VMI men and a legendary prank, at the Citadel’s expense).
Mike wrote that there were roughly 100 people there, and that The Citadel guys donated 50 bucks from the breakfast to the Ryan Doltz ’03 Scholarship. That’s freakin’ awesome. Here’s the small VMI contingent that braved enemy territory (thanks to Mike -blue shirt, front center- for the pic).
Buy The Jeep here. All proceeds go to the Ryan’s memorial scholarship fund.
Aside, here’s Mike’s thoughts:
The alumni breakfast was a huge success. Thanks again to the Citadel Alumni Association of Northern Virginia for inviting me to speak. There were about 100 VMI/Citadel alum at the event (including friends and family). It was great meeting new people and seeing some familiar faces.One VMI alumnus approached me before the event started and told me he couldn’t stay for the speech but he asked if I had a copy of the book I could sell him. I happened to have a couple extras and he asked how much it was. I told him $15 if he wanted to make a check out to the Ryan Doltz Scholarship Fund. While I was signing his book he was writing the check and I didn’t look at it until after he left. Turns out he wrote a check for $115. The Citadel alumni association also donated $50 cash.
I’m always dumbfounded by the generosity of VMI and Citadel alumni. I had heard or read somewhere that VMI alumni give more money per capita than any other college alumni. I don’t know whether or not that’s true but I believe it and I’m proud to be a part of the brotherhood.
Ryan Doltz’s mom (Cheryl) and sister (Anne) were also in attendance. It was great to finally meet them and I was honored that they attended.
Yes, those Citadel graduates are classy guys!
Even when they are slumming with those funky guys in the yellow hats!
:-)
pfff, those Citadel guys probably didn’t even know what class was until the VMI men showed up.
You know, I’ve commented several times on what a unique rivalry we have. It’s one of the most intense out there, but it has a touch of class that most rivalries don’t. I attended the National Debutante Cotillion in DC two years in a row, and the VMI and Citadel delegations usually got along great with each other, while the service academies tried to avoid mingling with anyone who wasn’t dressed like them. The second cotillion I attended was just a few weeks after the Jeep theft. I got a number of free beers from the Citadel cadets in honor of Mike and company’s derring-do. I was offered a job in Charlotte by a Citadel alum I met at a mall. The only resume he saw before he made the offer was the hunk of gold on my right hand. And then, at a VMI-Citadel game I attended in Charlotte, it was striking to see the two Corps of Cadets standing respectfully at parade rest for the other school’s Doxology. I’m sure the other alums have similar stories of the brotherhood between the two state military schools. It’s always cool to see alums from rival schools extending respect and friendship to one another…
All while giving each other a generous ration of shit.
Of course, I failed to mention that most of the class in that rivalry flows North to South. We try to help out our disadvantaged brothers from Charleston as best we can. You sort of feel sorry for them, you know?
Didn’t want you guys to think I was going soft or something.
At least there were women to date in Charleston………..as for Lexington in the good old days? Well I heard there were a lot of pretty scared sheep!
The breakfast was a great success. Besides the old mainstays (prayer, pledge of allegiance) there was some good gouge about the escapades of VMI ’01 and their rendezvous with destiny. Mike’s book was extremely graphic with regards to the events, but there were little bits of backstory that weren’t apparent in the book. For example, the Sup at the time (Si Bunting) “suspended the Honor Code” (Mike’s words, not mine) for the crew so they could lie, cheat, and steal (and tolerate) in order to perpetrate this event. I can’t say that I’ve ever heard of something like that happening.
The other thing that I really thought was funny was this…Mike said that the desire to get the Citadel jeep was precipitated by an “attack” on VMI the year prior, during which Citadel cadets painted the Jackson statue powder blue. The backstory to that was that on the night that (relayed by a Citadel alum) the Citadel cadets made their approach to barracks across the parade deck, the lights came on in barracks and there was a drum roll. The Citadel guys thought that the Corps knew they were there and were mobilizing, so they bolted…not knowing that they’d stumbled across a drum out. They returned later that morning to complete their mission.
Very funny stuff.
Carv ’89
Scholarship Fund
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