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Location: 1001 Eagle Road, Wayne, PA 19087. VFMAC also employs several British ex-Military personnel, most of whom wear the uniform and rank insignia of their respective British service. Its time to get serious about holding the trustees accountable for the damage they continue to inflict and their deliberate lack of transparency. Trustee Jessica Wright, the former head of Pennsylvanias National Guard, announced her resignation shortly thereafter in a scathing letter that inveighed against the boards reprehensible apathy toward the schools challenges. According to a statement from VFMA spokeswoman Jennifer Myers, school officials were first notified Sunday "of possible inappropriate actions involving Academy Guidance Counselor . The emblem consists of a representation of General George Washington kneeling in prayer in the snow at Valley Forge, over crossed cavalry sabres and surrounded with a circular margin bearing the words 'Valley Forge Military Academy.'" With George C. Scott, Timothy Hutton, Ronny Cox, Sean Penn. But I can say if we wont stand together, we all will fall.. While praising then-president Lord, the Healey study also warned that the school will not survive if the board continues in its present form and function due to its lack of strategic vision and inability to put its financial house in order. About us. But think of the type of kids that would do that, Bossert says. Those with Academy Commissions wear the letters "VF" in place of the "U.S." insignia and school crests as branch insignia and unit crest. This officer frequently got physical with students, according to his former co-workers, one of whom distinctly recalls him body-slamming a cadet in the mess hall. Last year, the school sold off a prime parcel of real estate at the corner of Upper Gulph and Radnor Roads to a developer for $1.6 million, a price the insurgents say was too low. Several of the alumni including Lord were banned from campus. . The institutional full dress is gray blue with black pants (for the academy cadets only as of the present), and from 2009 onwards, a British-styled all-dark blue polo and pants for the college. The mistreatment amplified my anger issues, Sheng said, and led him to abuse others in turn. Aside from its regular participation in school events, parades, on and off-campus formations, and other events, it has a storied history of appearances in Pennsylvania and New Jersey and has been assigned the honor of being the City of Philadelphia's honor guard for distinguished visitors to the city. Starting in Fall 2020, VFMA offers a Varsity eSports Program. Application. Published May 28, 2021. The debt was paid off last year, but the rebel alumni suspect that the board did so by misappropriating money earmarked for scholarships and using funds intended for a new building to be named after the family behind food giant Chef Boyardee. College cadets also participate in an annual intramural program of athletics events, academics, and creative challenges leading to the award of the Provost's Cup. Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. But most famous of all is the novelist J.D. Helgeson addressed the budget shortfalls by slashing college sports programs and eliminating the 16-horse cavalry. 1,163 Followers. Those who desire to remain in the Reserve Components after completing their bachelor's degree still have two years of leadership experience and, in addition to a full-time career in the private sector, will have continued leadership opportunities in the Army Reserve or Army National Guard. Valley Forge Military Academy and College (VFMAC) is a private boarding school (grades 712) and military junior college in Wayne, Pennsylvania. Current board chair English responds that Valley Forge has paid off all the schools long-term debt. A couple of the TACs came from Glen Mills, a Pennsylvania penal school that the state shut down in 2019 amid allegations of child abuse. Nestled 20 miles north of Philadelphia, the private institution teaches middle school, high school, and junior college students. Established in 1956, VFMAC Field Music is a separate unit of the Corps of Cadets and has its own officers and shares the same barracks and tactical officer. The service, which General Baker developed, is rooted in the Episcopal or Anglican "Book of Common Prayer" and is Christian in nature. The school discontinued the College Athletic Program at the end of the 20192020 school year. One former administrator went so far as to call him a creepo, noting that female cadets often complained to her about Riveras behavior. But when an administrator raised concerns with the HR office about that counselorwho was later convicted of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old at another schoolI was told that it was none of my business, to just stay out of it.. Shop Valley Forge Military Academy apparel, grad announcements, class rings, gifts and more from Balfour. They have no clue.". Twice a day they were given a special diet of 1/2. Valley Forge Military Academy & College's Post Valley Forge Military Academy & College 7,013 followers 4y When Schumacher disrupted the hazing session, the plebes were relieved, the bullies annoyed. Lines were drawn. Valley Forge Military Academy. VFMAC's administration is composed almost entirely of current or retired military and the board of trustees is almost entirely alumni. Academy extracurriculars include a drill team, a rifle team, a regimental band, a Boy Scout troop, a Civil Air Patrol unit, and numerous events like International Day, STEM challenges, and service projects.. All cadets attend religious services at The Alumni Memorial Chapel of St. Cornelius the Centurion on Sunday morning as a part of the Character Education program. They didnt care.. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters. It has formed a partnership that will license the schools name to a leadership academy in Doha, Qatar. It's us but for your ears. All cadets must pass a board and earn a "capshield" to be a member of the Corps of Cadets. A prime slice of campus was sold off to developers for $1.6 million. Another one recalls Rivera flirting with her repeatedly and saying she reminded him of his wife. Weve started an eSports team, instead.. Walt Lords appointment as president in 2018 heralded a brief period of reform at Valley Forge. 49); by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky live at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia. And he said it will launch a Valley Forge-branded online school next year. We wanted to open up dialogue and fix the school, said Scott Newell, an alum and parent of a former cadet. One mother told me that ever since her boy was raped at Valley Forge, a trauma incurred many years ago, he sleeps with a hunting knife under his pillow. Cadets who achieve academically and in personal efficiency and leadership are allowed additional leaves and local leaves into Wayne and to the King of Prussia mall. Valley Forge prepared me for life.. It was the first thing that I know I accomplished on my ownthe first thing that I accomplished not because it was a giveaway or because someone felt bad for me or whatever. Info. There are many fightsI mean many, many fights I have seen that played out completely, he added, where one student was beaten to a bloody fucking pulp before anyone intervened. (In December, the Valley Forge Sucks Instagram posted a video of two young cadets in camouflage freely pummeling one another in a bathroom.) who served as Bandmaster and Director of Music from September 1949 to June 1976. We were no longer in the military. Our charge is to grow them into students of the world and leaders of tomorrow to help them envision something more and something better, and to help them find their roles in it. By the accounts of those I spoke with, the Forge has indeed come to mirror many of the worst aspects of military culturethe lies and cover-ups, the unwillingness to deal appropriately with sexual assaults, and the lack of financial transparency. (Tuition, plus room and board, starts at just under $38,000 per year for middle and high school and $48,000 for college.) Founded in 1928, Valley Forge Military Academy and College an all-boys private school for cadets in grades 6-12, and also offering a two-year coed college program is the only recognized military academy in Pennsylvania. When the TACs started asking questions and she gave them her account, one of them said it was my fault. The alleged assailant was allowed to remain on campus for the semester. Its kind of like prison, one former student said. During the years of highest enrollment, in the 1960s and 1970s, Cadets of the Middle School were assigned to the "H" Company. Once a citadel of leadership, Valley Forge today is basically a sleepaway camp for troubled kids with very little supervision, says graduate Ray Bossert, a retired Army colonel and former TAC. On April 18, 2019, our lawyers filed a lawsuit on behalf of John Doe, a plaintiff who suffered traumatic and life-altering physical, sexual and emotional abuse at the renowned military school. The still-pending complaint warns of a propensity among TACs for cadet allegations to be covered up and interfered with. Wood also alleges that his attempts to investigate claims were repeatedly met with implicit threats by top officials, including William Gallagher, a retired Army colonel who held various senior roles. Valley Forge Military Academy was founded in 1928 by Lieutenant General Milton G. Baker, Pennsylvania Guard (Retired). Nobody knew where the money was going, one recalled. It follows in the traditional military school format with army traditions. Cadet Regimental Sergeant Major and Band and Field Music Drum Major wear British Army Foot Guard uniforms. When a former TAC raised concerns about Symantha Hicksa Forge guidance counselor who, according to police records, was suspected of giving alcohol to minors and performing oral sex on a 16-year-olda school official allegedly tried to convince him not to go to the cops. With school leaders doing little to address the fraught campus atmosphere, Schumacher had taken it upon himself to patrol the grounds as often as possible. ), In 2007, two parents told the Philadelphia Inquirer they were pulling their sons from the Forge after one of them, age 16, was brutally beaten by peers, and the other, a 13-year-old, was repeatedly tormented, kicked while doing pushups, and branded with a five-pointed star. Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation. Yet in recent years, Forge administrators had laid off some of the best TACs and replaced them with less-enlightened ones. Typically, only the first and last verses of the Alma Mater are sung. A twisted drill sergeant mentality took root. Valley Forge Military Academy is an international leadership institution, comprised of a middle school and high school for boys in grades 7-12. Cadets may also take the first two years of Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps while attending VFMC. NASA Education Earth Science Projects. Theres been little to no investment. [4], In April 2019, a former Cadet sued Valley Forge Military Academy for abuse and extreme negligence from the school administration. Valley Forge Military Academy and College - Wikipedia. Nearly 4,000 parents and alumni signed a petition imploring the board of trustees to work out their differences with Lord so that he could be reinstated. Schumacher returned to the dorms but quit the school for good soon after. Gerald Hale, USCG (Ret. In 2017, a 16-year-old cadet was allegedly subjected to a sadistic hazing ritual called tooth-pasting. The now-former cadet alleges in a lawsuit that fellow cadets hit him with a lacrosse stick, pushed it down his throat, and then tried to shove it into his anus. In January 1970, the Philadelphia Orchestra, conducted by Eugene Ormandy, and the Valley Forge Military Academy Band under the leadership of Colonel D. Keith Feltham, performed the "1812 Overture" (full title: Festival Overture "The Year 1812", op. Theyre weakening the brand.. It merely makes them obedient. This truth helps highlight the moral clarity of dissenters such as Salinger and Schumacher, whose insubordination was a clear-eyed response to abuse, a righteous rejection of bullying masquerading as command and control. We cant compete with Main Line boarding schools with sleek furniture and IT thats state of the art. He was succeeded as Chaplain by Colonel[clarification needed] John E. Steele Jr., Valley Forge Military Academy and College. And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. Rules werent being enforced.. Lord felt confident he could tackle the Forges cultural issues. [6] Former Title IX coordinator Robert Wood,[6] revealed in a Title IX complaint about numerous incidents that have occurred at the school including hazing, sexual abuse, rape, assault from alumni, racism, antisemitism, and gross negligence from the school to take action against the cadets in question. We do so with obligation and authority and that is a privilege beyond measure. In June, the school disbanded its cavalry and gave away its 16 horses. Bossert told me that some of the dozen or so cadets thought to have participated in tooth-pasting assaults were dismissed, only to return the following semester. He then grabs the boy. In the fall of 1970, the VFMA recorded their tracks of the production in Columbia Studios in New York City. As the news swept the campus, cadets showed up at Lords living quarters with cake, cookies, and a teddy bear. These young men and women work together and support each other to gain admission to the United States Military Academy, the United States Naval Academy, the United States Air Force Academy, the United States Coast Guard Academy and the United States Merchant Marine Academy. Wayne, PA 19087. www.vfmac.edu. A combat-tested, exceptional leader. The organization of the Corps, similar to the rest of the United States military junior colleges, is unique because the school organized it as a full regiment of three battalions, two infantry, and one mounted. [5] On February 27, 2017, three juveniles were charged with assault in which they allegedly beat another cadet with a lacrosse stick in a hazing ritual called "Toothpasting". The schoolrooms are woefully outdated. Once, most College Cadets in the infantry battalion were assigned to the "F" Company, but have been divided into "G", "H", and "I" Companies today. Like most American boarding schools, academics at the academy and college are demanding and highly competitive, and there is a mandatory two-hour nightly "study hall" period from 7:30 pm to 9:30 pm in the students' barracks. At the height of its enrollment in the late 1960s, Valley Forge had 1,169 cadetsmost white and all male. Schumacher and another former cadet remember Rivera at one point declaring his intent to give cadets an experience the commandant likened to a deployment in one of the shit-istans. This consisted of TACs berating and belittling the cadets and robbing them of sleep. The British-style drill was practiced at VFMAC until early 2014 but returned in 2017. Several investigations were launched in recent years into alleged cadet-on-cadet brutality and violent episodes of hazing, including waterboarding and a practice called toothpasting that involved ritually sodomizing fellow students with a lacrosse stick. 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