The VMI Leader Journey Podcast

What does peer leadership really look like — and what does it cost you? In this episode of the VMI Leader Journey, host Lt. Col. Catherine Roy sits down with Cadet Heaton Lawrence, Virginia Military Institute Class of 2026, Corps Chief of Staff, and CSAB Vice President, just days before graduation. Heaton isn't commissioning — he's headed to the classroom to teach AP English and build a career in...

In this episode of The VMI Leader Journey, we sit down with retired U.S. Army Green Beret Lieutenant Colonel Scott Mann—our 2025–26 Leader‑in‑Residence at the Virginia Military Institute. Scott shares hard‑earned leadership lessons from his Special Forces career, including deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan during the Global War on Terror. Whether you’re a VMI cadet, a prospective student, a vete...

Leadership lessons, cadet life insights, and the mindset behind VMI’s top leadership role.  In this conversation with Devin Auzenne '26, you'll hear insights on servant leadership, transformational leadership, and how VMI’s unique systems—the Honor System, Regimental System, and Class System—shape leaders for life.

Welcome to an inspiring VMI Leader Journey podcast episode, "Leading with Faith." In this episode, we introduce you to Cadet Collin Shannon from the Class of 2026, a psychology major and VMI's quarterback, who shares his insightful journey about leadership, teamwork, time management, and relentless perseverance. From balancing the rigorous life of a student-athlete to identifying the transformativ...

In this episode, we're doing something a little different. Our conversation with Brad Snyder, a Navy veteran, Paralympic gold medalist, and author, will reveal some behind-the-scenes insights into his memoir, "Fire in My Eyes." We'll discover what inspired him to write a memoir, what it was like to put some painful and confusing memories down on paper, and other details about his process. We will...

In this exciting episode of the VMI Leader Journey, host Major Catherine Roy invites Retired Brigadier General Christopher Burns, the 2023-24 Leader in Residence at VMI. Burns gives a succinct overview of his career journey, laying out potent leadership philosophies he's learned from his time in the military and Wall Street. He delves deep into the distinction between managing and leading, emphasi...

Beginning in her third class year, Kate Taylor, VMI Class of 2024, got involved with programs at the VMI Center for Leadership and Ethics. A civil engineering major, she attended the Annual Leadership and Ethics Conference three times, twice as a table group facilitator, and was a member of the VMI Swim and Dive Club and the Cadets' Superintendent's Advisory Board.   In this episode of the VMI Lea...

Today's episode, "Something Beyond," is a conversation with Riley Shultz, VMI Class of 2024. They explore two of the Center's cadet clubs: The Cadets' Superintendent's Advisory Board, a diverse make-up of cadet representatives from thirds to firsts who explore aspects of cadet life and how to make improvements, and the Intercollegiate Ethics and Debate club, which competes in intercollegiate debat...

Our guest, Commander Kirk Lippold, USN (Ret.), was the Commanding Officer of the USS Cole when it came under a suicide terrorist attack by al Qaeda in the port of Aden, Yemen, on October 12, 2000. During his command, he and his crew distinguished themselves by saving the American warship from sinking. We sat down before his talk as the closing speaker for the 14th Annual VMI Leadership and Ethics...

VMI is one of 10 colleges in the country to be named a Braver Angels' College Debates and Discourse Alliance’s Communities of Practice. As such, we are taking part in a national research grant from the John Templeton Foundation on the effect of participating in these moderated debates for college students. The overall goal is to promote civil discourse and give participants the tools they need to...

In this episode, Sibi Bagavathy, an economics and business major, discusses with podcast host Maj. Catherine Roy about the efforts to educate his Honor Court peers and the Corps of Cadets on following VMI's Honor Code. We discuss some outreach programs offered to cadets, how he and his peers discover opportunities for reinforcement, and the goal to inspire cadets to develop their character in a wa...

COVID, an investigation, loss... VMI's Class of 2023 has had a unique and 'wild ride,' according to First-Class President Cadet Cameron Cavanaugh.  Join us for this discussion of the challenges they faced and some of their lessons learned. Said Cavanaugh, ‘You’re not going to get through it alone, and it’s not worth doing alone.’ We touch on his deep faith, gratitude, leadership style, and our ann...

*Video Podcast Episode* Retired Col. Rick Kiernan, VMI Class of 1966, shares his insights on the longstanding tradition of graduating cadets of character from the Institute. He discusses the media's propensity for negativity,  the importance of context in any story or discussion, and his thoughts on leadership as an iterative process. "And I think the character of the men and women that come out o...

If the name Erika Cheung sounds familiar, it may be because you followed the rise and fall of the multi-billing-dollar tech startup company Theranos. Cheung was a whistleblower in that case who came forward to raise concerns over its lab practices, ultimately opting to separate herself from the company due to medical ethics violations. Nowadays, she helps other tech startup companies build out the...

2022 first battalion executive officer and international studies major 2nd Lt. Derek Shockey is interning at the center through October 10th and making major contributions to three of the active learning sessions for the Annual Leadership Conference titled "Principled Dissent: Navigating Moral Challenges." His academic research for his national security and Asian studies minor was great preparatio...

I’m Maj. Catherine Roy, your host for this episode titled “Making a Lasting Impact.” With me are VMI Class of 2022 and newly commissioned Army officers Seth McRoberts and Ryan Cooper. McRoberts was a platoon leader for Charlie company, an English major, a member of the triathlon club, and cadet-in-charge (or CIC) for the Center’s Cadet-Superintendent’s Advisory Board (or CSAB) – a diverse group of...

Our guest is former CIA & FBI Operations Agent Tracy Walder. She is also the author of The Unexpected Spy: From the CIA to the FBI, My Secret Life Taking Down Some of the World’s Most Notorious Terrorists.  Maj. Catherine Roy, communications and marketing specialist for the Center, got to meet Ms. Walder during her visit to VMI for our third Courageous Leaders Speaker event for 2022. Here is the l...

Both Scott Spellmeyer, VMI Class of 1990, and Col. Justin Sapp, VMI Class of 1994, were part of Team Alpha, the first U.S. Mission behind enemy lines in Afghanistan after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Other panelists included Dave Tyson, linguist and CIA agent for the mission, and Toby Harndon, author of First Casualty, his book detailing the historical account. You can watch the panel discussion on...

Lt. Col. Jamica Love has her Ph. D. in psychology and has worked in higher education for about 20 years. When I asked her what inspired her to use her talents as a diversity officer, she shared with me the story of her career journey where she began to specialize in DEI over the last 12 years.  Said Love, “I didn’t just want to teach people about something that I wasn’t actually living out.” Durin...

The public is invited to attend a free event at VMI on Friday, February 18th at noon in the Gillis Theater at Marshall Hall. Toby Harnden, author of “First Casualty: The Untold Story of the CIA Mission to Avenge 9/11” along with some of the people featured in the book: retired senior CIA officer David Tyson, and Scott Spellmeyer, VMI '90 and Justin Sapp, VMI '94, will participate in a panel discus...

Lt. Gen. Gwen Bingham, U.S. Army (Ret.), is this year’s Binford J. H. Peay Leader-in-Residence. The VMI Center for Leadership and Ethics hosts this program and produces this podcast to educate, engage, and inspire the VMI Corps of Cadets, the greater VMI Community, and listeners like you! Bingham’s visit coincides with this year’s leadership theme titled ‘Citizen Leaders.’ During our conversation,...

VMI's first female regimental commander, Kasey Meredith '22, sat down for the first episode of the 2021-22 academic year. During our interview, we were able to ask her more about her leadership style. She stressed the importance of working as a team, especially between the two leadership systems here at VMI, the traditional university class system with the military or regimental leadership system....

Episode No. 23 features Chief EMT Allen Xu '21 who has commissioned in the Army and plans to one day become an Army doctor. Xu is a New Jersey native. In addition to EMT chief, he was a prosecutor on the Honor Court and president of the Omicron Delta Kappa honor society. Xu said VMI gave him the opportunity to put his textbook understanding of leadership into practice. As an EMT, he's deepened his...

We caught up with Whitney Roberson in the PX to chat about her VMI leader journey. Whitney is a history major from Chesapeake, VA. She is the captain of the women’s soccer team, president of the Promaji club, an investigator for the CEA (Cadet Equity Association), and the vice president of SAAC (Student Athletic Advisory Committee). In this episode, we discussed how her views on leadership have ch...

Defensive Lineman and team captain for VMI's Keydets football team Jordan Ward dreamed of playing Division I football in college. He helped the Keydets to their first SoCon football title since 1977 and the program's first-ever FCS playoffs bid. But that's not the only 'feather' in Ward's cap. He has been an NCAA football player all four years of his cadetship, but also served as an S6 sergeant, a...