Institute Report. March 31, 1989

              THE INSTITUTE REPORT
Vo)umeXVI March31,1989 Number 7
An occasional publication of the Public Information Office, Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, Virginia 24450. Tel. (703) 464-7207.
Retirement Ahead for Cols. Gupton, Taylor;
Col. Bausum to Retire After Fall Semester
Col. O. W. Gupton Col. A. C Taylor Col. H. S. Bausum
Retirements at the end of the current academic session will close out the teaching careers of two longtime VMI professors. A third pro­fessor, who has indicated intentions to retire after the 1989 fall semester, will share parade honors for retiring and departing faculty and staff at a retreat review Friday, April 28, at 4 p.m.
Col. Oscar W. Gupton, professor of biology, 1986 recipient of VMI's Distinguished Teaching Award, co-author of four nature reference books, and former Keydet wrestling coach, will retire this year after 38 years on the faculty. He is a native of North Carolina, a World War II veteran of Marine Corps enlisted service, and a 1950 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he also earned two master's degrees, 1951 and 1960, and a Ph.D., 1963.
Over the years since he joined the VMI faculty in 1951, Col. Gupton has collected, identified, pressed, and mounted thousands of plant specimens for the biology department herbarium. With fellow biology professor Col. Fred Swope, he has also published three guidebooks on wildflowers, trees, and shrubs in Virginia. A fourth volume, published in 1987, is on wild orchids of the mid-Atlantic states. He is currently on leave to study life forms in the desert regions of Australia, New Zealand, and the western United States.
For more than two decades, Col. Gupton's name was synonymous with VMI wrestling. A championship wrestler in his own under­graduate days, he became the Keydet wrestling coach in 1952, and with exception of three years on leave for doctoral studies, 1958-61, he served until stepping down from that position in 1977, the year he was also named Southern Conference Wrestling Coach of the Year.
For Col. Arthur C. Taylor, Jr., professor of mechanical engineering and a member of VMI's class of 1944, retirement will end a 40-year teaching career that began at VMI in September 1949. His cadet years, like those for many during the World War II period, were interrupted for active military service from 1943 to 1946. During that period he served as a navigator in the U.S. Army Air Corps in the Pacific. Returning to VMI after the war, he was graduated in 1947 with a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering and later earned a master's degree, 1952, and Ph.D., 1964, at Ohio State University.
CoI. Taylor, who entered VMI from Richmond, served as head of the mechanical engineering department for 23 years. Author of an engineering laboratory manual published in 1983 and co-editor of a 1978 volume on the principles and practices of noise control, he has served as a consultant and conducted research for various firms, including summer work with the Environmental Protection Agency. He is, in addition, a former secretary of the Shenandoah Section of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
(continued on page 2)
VMI Band to Parade in France in July
There's a celebration this year in France, and members of the VMI regimental band are getting ready, polishing up both music and brass to participate in observances marking the 200th anniversary of the start of the French Revolution in July 1789.
The VMI band will be the "governor's own" at ceremonies in Paris on Sunday, July 8, when Virginia chief executive Gerald L. Baliles, chairman of the National Conference of Governors, takes part in an American salute to the Bicentennial of the French Revolution. The day's events will include a VMI wreath-laying at the Arc de Triomphe, tomb of France's unknown soldier; rededication of the Jardin des Etats-U nis, the Garden of the U ni ted States; a concert at the Senate Building of France; and a reception hosted by the mayor of Paris for Governor Baliles and other U.S. dignitaries, including the American ambassador.
On Sunday, July 9, Governor Baliles and the VMI band will also be guests of the town of Vendome, near Orleans, where the cadets will lead a civic parade being planned in honor of the Virginia governor. Hosts at the Vendome observance will be descendants of the Comte de Rochambeau, the French marshal who marched with George Washington during the American Revolution.
Current plans are for approximately 45 band members, accom­panied by director Capt. John Brodie, to leave from Dulles Airport on July 5, arriving in Paris the next day for a week-long stay in France. A package tour being arranged for the cadets includes guided tours of the Louvre Museum, the Versailles Palace, and the sights ofParis, as well as a visit to the Ecole Poly technique, the renowned French scientific school from which VMI was patterned to a large degree. The cadet band members will return July 13.
Col. Michael S. Harris, professor ofmodern languages, is the VMI project officer for the trip, which is being coordinated for the Governor by the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation.
I..egislation Lifts VMI Faculty Salaries, Funds Cadet Barracks and Library Projects
As a result of legislation in the 1989 short session of the Virginia General Assembly, VMI will get a 5.9 percent salary increase for members of the faculty and funding for two capital projects.
Although the Governor's budget was for a 4.5 percent increase in faculty salaries. an amendment restored the increase to that recom­mended earlier by the State Council of Higher Education.
A change in the date for auditing the Virginia State Lottery profits and legislative authority for the Governor to use those profits for capital projects will now provide the funds for continued improvements and renovations to the cadet barracks and for climate control for parts of Preston Library. The barracks projects are for a total of$3.6 million in general funds. with improvements to the library set at $400,000. VMI will use an additional $100,000 in private funds to complete the library job, which includes air conditioning in certain stack areas and the archives.
The barracks was 15th and the library 43rd on the list of 180state projects. Based on early reports on the success ofthe lottery, both VMI projects are expected to be funded in August.
The 1989 budget legislation also provided a $50,000 allotment to send the VMI regimental band to France in July to represent Virginia, along with Governor Gerald L Baliles, at American observances of the Bicentennial of the French Revolution. VMI must provide any additional funding required for the trip. Pale 1,The Institute Report, Man:h 31. 19119
AMI Annual Meeting at VMI in April
The American Military Institute, a national organization dedicated to the study of military history, will meet at VMI Friday and Saturday, April 14-15, for the56th annual conference ofthe organiza­tion founded in 1933.
The two-day program on thegeneral theme of "Military Educa­tion" will becomprisedof 16 panel discussions within six time periods. Friday sessions will beat 8:50 to 10:40 a.m.; 10:50 a.m. to 12:40 p.m.; and 2 to 3:40 p.m. Saturday programs are scheduled at 9-11 a.m.; 1:15 to 3 p.m.; and 3:15 to 5:15 p.m. Col. Henry S. Bausum, professor of history and editor of the AMI's quarterly publication, The Journal ofMilitary History, is coordinator of the conference.
Notable individuals among the 69 persons taking partin the con­ference program include Dr. Martin van Creveld, professor of history at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and author of Technology and War and other works ofmilitary history. He will present the address at the7 p.m. closing banquet on Saturday. Other participants include military historians from England and West Germany; professors of history from 24 colleges and universities in 18 states; and military branch historians for the Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps.
The AMI board of trustees will also be in attendance, including Dr. Forrest C. Pogue, George C. Marshall biographer and former director ofthe Marshall Research Foundation; Brig. Gen. William A. Stofft, chief, U.S. Army Center of Military History; and Brig. Gen. Edwin H. Simmons, retired USMC history and museums director.
The program participants also include Dr. Donald D. Horward, professor of history at Florida State University, who held the Con­quest Chair in the Humanities at VMI in 1984, and Gen. Jacob E. Smart, USAF retired, who as a colonel during World War II planned the strategic low-level B24 air bombing of the well defended Ploesti oil refineries in Rumania in 1943. The daytime mission, flown from bases in Libya, set a long distance record and marked the beginning oftheendofthe German Luftwaffe. Smart, later commander ofthe 97th Bomb Group, became a prisoner ofwar in 1944 when he was shot down over Germany. His release came a year later when Gen. Patton's army rescued him near Munich.
Several members ofthe VMI faculty and staffwill present papers or concluding comments at the various panels. They include Col. Edwin L. Dooley, Jr.; Col. Wayne C. Thompson, jointly with Cadet Marc Peltier, '89; Lt. Col. A. Cash Koeniger; and Cmdr. Blair P. Turner. Members ofthe Lexington community who may beinterested in attending the programs may obtain copies ofthe complete schedule by calling the conference coordinator at the VMI officeof The Journal ofMilitary History, telephone 464-7468.
During the recent spring break, members ofthe VMI glee club, shown above, began what they hope will become a tradition (at VMI, anything you did last year and liked) during future spring holiday periods. Taken on a southern tour by director Capt. Jolin C Hickox, the 37 cadet singers performed six concerts in five days in five cities, appearing before alumni and local school audiences, as well as at a veterans hospital and a church-affiliated retirement home. Alumni groups in Columbia, Atlanta, Birmingham, Montgomery, andMobile
made the arrangements and served as hosts to the cadets.
Added Attraction to VMI Theatre Playbill
In rehearsal for the VMI Theatre's April 6-8 production of The Lighter Side of Military Life are, front row from left, Brian E. McCarthy, George E. Petty, C Winn Philips; second row, Paul B. Kubin, Thomas F. Austin, Heath E. Wells; and back row, Jeffrey G. Covey, Thomas B. Kennedy, Benjamin R. Dorman. Notpicturedare
H.S. Thcker Carmichael and Jeffrey T. Millican.
As a special added attraction to its 1989 playbill, the VMI Theatre will present The Lighter Side ofMilitary Life on April 6, 7, and 8 at 8 p.m. in Scott Shipp Hall. The humorous look at military life from the American Revolution to World War II is a revue of skits, songs, and excerpts from the works of well-known American and British writers. Mrs. Joellen Bland, Theatre director, is directing the play, with music direction by Mrs. Jane Rorrer and costume coordination by Mrs. Melou Piegari. Set design is by Cadet Thomas B. Kennedy, assisted by Theatre president Brian K. Woodford and staffmembers. For reservations, call 464-7389 after 4 p.m.
Marine Corps Band Concert Set for April 28
The second in the series of sesquicentennial year military band concerts at VMI will be held Friday, April 28, and will feature the 55-man U.S. Marine Corps Band from Quantico's Combat Develop­ment Command. The free concert, to which the public is invited, begins at 7:30 p.m. in Cameron Hall and is expected to last two hours.
Noted for its performances in the nation's capital and at Marine Corps functions throughout the east, the band offers a full range of music from Sousa marches and patriotic songs to popular Broadway tunes and big band jazz. The band is under thedirection ofGunnery Sergea nt Steven C. Cseplo. Special guests at the concert will be World War II veterans of the Sixth Marine Division, which was command­ed by Gen. Lemuel C. Shepherd, a 1917 VMI graduate who later served as Commandant of the Marine Corps. The veterans group will be holding its annual spring reunion at VMI that weekend.
Retirements, continued from page 1
Col. Henry S. Bausum, professor ofhistory and department head from 1980 to 1985, has indicated his wish to retire but has agreed to remain through the fall semester of 1989. He has been a member of the faculty since 1964 when he came to VMI after eight years on the faculty at Carson-Newman College. A veteran of Army Air Corps service in World War II, he is a 1949 graduate of the University of Maryland and earned a master's degree at Boston University, 1951, and a Ph.D. at the University of Chicago, 1963.
Current editor of the The Journal ofMilitary History, a quarterly magazine published at VMI for the American Military Institute, Col. Bausum is the editor of two books of American history: Teaching History Today, published in 1985 by the American Historical Associa­tion, and the 1987 publication of the military leadership lectures presented in VMI's John Biggs Lecture Series, for which he was coor­dinator. In the early 19705, he also planned and conducted two widely noted history conferences held at VMI to discuss mounting concerns over programs in introductory history. For almost a decade, 1974-81, he was also co-editor 0 f a column in theAmerican Historical Associa­tion's monthly publication, AHA Perspective. The Inslitute Report, March 31, 1989. Page 3
Heritage Lecture on George C. Marshall to be Given in April by Biographer Forrest C. Pogue
Dr. Forrest C. Pogue, 1981 photo by Ken Rose of The Memphis Press-Scimitar
Dr. Forrest C. Pogue, noted military historian and author of the critically acclaimed four-volume biography of General of the Army George C. Marshall, a 1901 graduate of VMI, will present the first of two Sesquicentennial Heritage Lectures at VMI on Monday, April 3. His topic for the 7:30 p.m. public lecture in Cameron Hall will be "George C. Marshall, '01." The lecture, sponsored by the VMI Sesquicentennial Committee, is one in a series ofyear-long events in observance of the Institute's 150th anniversary year.
Dr. Pogue, who was Mary Moody Northen Visiting Professor of History at VMI in the 1972 spring semester, was named the official Marshall biographer and director of the research center of the George
C. Marshall Foundation in 1956, only three years after the Founda­tion's chartering in 1953. From temporary headquarters in Washington, D.C., he began the compilation of material relating to General Marshall's distinguished service to the nation.
A pioneer in the technique oforal history, the recording ofinter­views on tape. Dr. Pogue conducted more than 40 hours ofinterviews with General Marshall in 1956 and 1957. He also interviewed more
Marshall ROTC Award Seminar: April 11-14
Cadet Lt. Marc D. Peltier, '89, VMI winner ofthe annual George
C. Marshall Award, will join Army ROTC student leaders from col­leges and universities throughout the 50 states at the 12th annual Mar­shall ROTC Award Seminar here April 11-14. The seminar, which focuses on national security, is a joint program of the Marshall Foun­dation and the US. Army. Co-chairmen are Marshall Foundation trustees Floyd D. Gottwald, Jr., VMI '43, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Ethyl Corporation, and Adm. James L. Holloway, III, USN retired, former Chief of Naval Operations.
Principal speakers for the four-day event include Gen. Carl E. Vuono, Army ChiefofStaff, who will address a plenary session at 9
p.m.
Wednesday, April 12, in Jackson Memorial Hall; Gen. Maxwell
R.
Thurman, commanding general, US. Army Training and Doctrine Command, who will address a Lee Chapel session at 8:30 a.m. Thursday; and Maj. Gen. Robert E. Wagner, VMI '57, commanding general, ROTC Cadet Command, who is scheduled to join the Secretary of the Army for the seminar's opening session in Cameron Hall at Il a.m. Wednesday.
The Marshal! Award winners will take part in twenty roundtable discussions with emphasis on U.S. security interests in various geographic areas of the world, as well as on such current topics as the future of nuclear weapons, ethics and the military, and insurgency and American foreign policy. As in previous years, several members of the VMI faculty will serve as roundtable leaders. Assisti ng in all aspects are the Army ROTC detachments at VMI and W&L. Adding an in­ternational touch is the expected attendance of staff and cadet representatives from France's famed Ecole Polytechnique and from the Royal Military College of Canada.
than 300 of General Marshall's former associates, including Presidents Truman and Eisenhower, Generals De Gaulle and MacAr­thur, and a number ofEngland's military leaders of the war period.
Dr. Pogue's first volume in the Marshall biography, Education of a General 1880-1939, was published in 1963, a year before the Mar­shall Library'S formal opening in 1964. At that time, Dr. Pogue was named library director as well as executive director of the Marshall Foundation, a position he held for a decade while continuing his research and writing. Volume II of the Marshall biography, Ordeal and Hope 1939-1942, was published in 1967 and covers General Marshall's early years as Army Chief of Staff. The third volume, Organizer ofVictory 1943-1945. came out in 1973, with the fourth and final volume, Statesman 1945-1959, published in 1987. It covers the years ofGeneral Marshall's extraordinary service in the development of American foreign policy.
Dr. Pogue, a native of Kentucky and former holder of The Eisenhower Chair at the Smithsonian Institution, was a combat historian with the US. First Army in World War II. He participated in the Normandy invasion and helped report and record the invasion story, the allied entry into Paris, the battle ofthe Roer dams, capture ofLeipzig, and the meeting with the Russians at Torgau. In addition to the Marshall biography, he is the author of The Supreme Command, the official account ofGeneral Eisenhower's World War II command in Europe, and co-author of The Meaning of Yalta.
Last year, for his definitive biography of General Marshall, Dr. Pogue became only the fourth distinguished author since 1962 to receive the prestigious Francis Parkman Medal for Special Achieve­ment, awarded by the Society of American Historians. He was also recipient in 1988 of the Samuel Eliot Morison Prize for outstanding contribution to American military history, this too in recognition of his Marshall biography.
Before beginning his three decades of research and writing on George C. Marshall, Dr. Pogue was a history professor at Murray State CoUege in Kentucky. He made his first major address at VMI in 1958 as a Dance Memorial Lecturer.
GCM Stars Coming Home After Space Ride
Col. Guy S. Gardner, USAF, command pilot of the shuttle Atlantis that carried the five-star insignia of General oftheArmy George C. Marshall, '01, into space last December, will be at VMI in April to return those stars to the Marshall Foundation from which they were borrowed. The presentation is scheduled to be made at a parade in honor of the Marshall RarC Award Seminar at 4 p.m. Wednesday, April 12.
The proposal to carry General Marshall's stars into space was initiated in 1985 by
Col. Guy S. pardner 1971 VMI graduate 1. Brett Wat­terson,
then an Air Force major and the payload specialist on the astronaut team scheduled to be launched into space in March 1986. When the mission was canceled following the Challenger disaster, the insignia entrusted to Watterson, who has since returned to line duty in the Air Force, began the long wait for US. space flights to be resumed. Finally on Dec. 2, 1988, in the second flight ofa U.S. shuttle since Challenger, the cluster ofsilver stars went into space.
Two sets of the five-star insignia worn by General Marshall were taken on the Atlantis mission. The other set will be placed on perma­nent loan to the Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama. Page 4, The Institute Report, March 31,1989
John Monks, '32, Brother Rat Co-Author, to Attend VMI Theatre Production of His Play
Johnny Monks -play­wright,
screen writer, movie
director and producer -is
coming home, back to the college
where he and a classmate pooled
their considerable talents to write
a play that was to catapult both
into the bright lights of Broad­way
and Hollywood. It's not that
the valedictorian of VMI's class
of 1932 hasn't been back to the
Institute since his graduation,
just that his visit in April will
have special meaning to him and
to VMI in this sesquicentennial
year. Mr. John Monks, Jr. '32 John Monks, Jr., of Pacific
Palisades, Calif., who is also president of the class of 1932, will be a special guest of the Institute on the weekend of April 20-22 for the VMI Theatre's production of Brother Rat, the play he wrote with classmate Fred F. Finklehoffe, who died in 1977. In addition to being present for the opening night per­formance of Brother Rat, Mr. Monks will be on the reviewing stand for the Friday parade and also speak at a special seminar on creative writing. The latter event will be attended by the cast, crew, and staff of the VMI Theatre. Mrs. Carolyn Finklehoffe, widow of the co­author, will also be in the opening night audience.
It's been 57 years since the birth ofBrother Rat in barracks room 109, where roommates Monks and Finklehoffe collaborated in the spring of 1932 to write a play for their senior English thesis. The play, originally called "When the Roll is Called," was submitted to the late Col. Raymond E. Dixon, professor of English, and it brought a prophetic comment from him when the manuscript was graded and returned to the cadets: "I hope that some day I will see this on the stage on Broadway. " The original manuscript is in the collection of the Preston Library archives.
At VMI, both cadets were liberal arts majors, good students, and leaders in the Corps. Monks, from Pleasantville, N.Y., served four years as vice president of his class (he succeeded to the class presidency in 1948), was a member of the Honor Court, and earned a varsity letter as a boxer. Finklehoffe, from Springfield, Mass., was a member of the staff of The Cadet newspaper. And both had an interest in stage pro­ductions. When the class of 1932 presented its class show, "Fifty Million Keydets," Monks was the director, Finklehoffe the assistant. The revue was a conglomeration ofmusical talent and satirical skits on cadet life, and file notes at VMI indicate that it set something of a precedent for staging cadet theatrical productions.
It's generally accepted that Monks and Finklehoffe wrote Brother Rat from their own cadet experiences. They shared a love of fun and high jinks, a fact that is supported by the alleged demerit total each collected at VMI. Undeniably, it was their youthful enthusiasm and the uninhibited spirit of barracks life that gave the play its zest.
For the first few years after their graduation, the play lay idle as Finklehoffe entered Yale University, where he earned a law degree in 1935, and Monks went to New York to become an actor, ending up in radio broadcasting. They got together from time to time and in 1935 decided to rework their play and submit it to some producers.
In the winter of 1936, the play caught the attention of Garson Kanin, casting aide to producer George Abbott, who was noted in theatre circles for his hit comedy successes. Within the year, Abbott had the play in production under its new title, and after a trial opening in Baltimore, the curtain went up on Broadway on Dec. 16, 1936. The play, which included Jose Ferrer and Eddie Albert in the original Broadway cast, ran at New York's Biltmore Theatre on West 47th Street for 18 months and 577 performances. In late 1937, Abbott formed two road companies that took the show on a nationwide tour of the country. Random House also published the play, binding the copies in cadet gray with a touch of VMI's tri-colors and adding a photo of VMI on the jacket cover.
When Brother Rat opened on Broadway, an immediate problem was explaining to theatre goers and drama critics just what a Brother Rat was, just what the comedy was about, what VMI was all about. The result was unprecedented publicity for the Institute.
Edward D. C. Campbell, Jr., editor of Virginia Cavalcade and author of an article on Brother Rat published in a recent edition of the Virginia Magazine ofHistory and Biography, quotes a statement made by then VMI alumni secretary Frank McCarthy, '33, just one month after the Broadway opening: "The play has been the greatest plug for military training that military schools ever received." At VMI, applications for enrollment increased significantly and the response by alumni was overwhelming.
The Movie Brother Rat The Warner Bros. film Brother Rat was produced the following year and starred Eddie Albert, Wayne Morris, Ronald Reagan, Priscilla Lane, and Jane Wyman in the lead roles, with Albert's playing the same part that he had played on Broadway. VMI cooperated in the filmed production, as it had with the Broadway staging, by pro­viding cadet uniforms and other regulation equipment. A location crew filmed background shots at VMI in early May 1938, and in cooperation, VMI suspended classes for two days to allow the film unit to get as many parade scenes as needed, with cadets doubling where necessary for the Hollywood principals. Filming with the actual movie cast was totally completed in Hollywood. Frank McCarthy, who had left VMI in mid 1937 to become an Abbott publicist with the road tour of Brother Rat, was now technical adviser for the movie production, which had a budget of $500,000. In July 1938, he wrote to Maj. Gen. Charles E. Kilbourne, VMI superintendent, to tell him of the progess being made on the film. "I wish you could be here," McCarthy wrote, "to see what has been done on Stage 12 at the Warner Bros. Studios ... You would think you were in Lex­ington. The exterior ofthe south
Hollywood cast ofBrother Rat
side of barracks, from the
included, left to right, Wayne
southwest tower to a point just
Morris, Eddie Albert. and
beyond Washington Arch, has
Ronald Reagan
been reproduced in minute detail. In the arch, for instance, every bulletin board and every light bulb is in its proper place ... The set, by the way, is exactly thesizeof barracks -no miniature!" Just behind the studio's barracks set was a model of room Ill.
Throughout the filming, McCarthy was in constant touch with VMI and Gen. Kilbourne, who was accorded a preview of the movie before its release. On Sept. 22, 1938, Gen. Kilbourne wrote to Warner Bros: "I attended an advanced exhibition of the film and am glad to inform you that it has received our approval. There is no objectionable feature and you may release the film as prepared. "
Warner Bros. held the world premiere ofBrother Rat in Lexington on Thursday, Oct. 20, 1938. Floodlights and photographers' flash bulbs had the town ablaze with light, and it took simultaneous show­ings at both local theatres to accommodate the Corps; faculty and staff; the Warner Bros. studio party, which included Priscilla Lane; special guests, and the press. Showing to the general public of Lex­ington began the next day, with national release starting a week later. At VMI it was opening hops weekend, and Miss Lane, who stayed through the weekend, promised to dance with everyone of the 720 cadets who made up the Corps.
Preceding the premier, there was a national CBS radio broadcast on Brother Rat from New York on the popular Kate Smith show, with a cut-in to VMI ceremonies that were broadcast live from Cocke Hall. John Monks, '32, continued from page 4
The segment of the broadcast from VMI featured remarks by the superintendent and music by both the glee c1ub and the cadet orchestra -and across the country, excited alumni were listening.
Hollywood Careers of Monks & FinkIehoffe
After Brother Rat, Mr. Monks collaborated with Finklehoffe on several screenplays, including the hit Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney film, Strike Up the Band, in 1940. In the next decade they earned three Oscar nominations between them, Monks receiving his for House on 92nd Street (1945) and 13RueMade/eine (1946), which starred his longtime and close friend James Cagney. The Oscar nomination for Finklehoffe was for the 1944 Judy Garland film, Meet Me in St. Louis.
Shortly after Pearl Harbor, Monks joined the U.S. Marine Corps and in 1942 went into the combat zones ofthe Pacific with the Third Marines. As an infantry captain over the next two years, he fought in the jungles at Samoa, GuadaIcanal, and Bougainville, and later was the author of A Ribbon and a Star, a book about his regiment at Bougainville, one of the last battles of the defensive phase of the Pacific war. He also wrote the script for ~are the Marines, released by the March of Time in 1942.
Coming out of the Marines in 1945 as a major, Mr. Monks returned to his work as a movie writer and director, eventually becoming vice president of an independent motion picture company, Gold Coast Productions, Inc. In addition to films, he wrote for television, including a series on the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and wrote, directed, and produced the 1962 movie No Man is an Island, based on the experiences of a Navy man who eluded capture by the Japanese during two years on Guam in World War II.
The stage and film credits are equally lengthy for Fred Finklehoffe. In addition to the Judy Garland-Mickey Rooney films, he was co-author of such memorable screen plays as Babes on Broadway (1941) and For Me and My Gal (1942). He was also co-author and co-producer of the film adaptation of Betty MacDonald's best-selling book The Egg and I and producer of such Broadway hits as The
FredF. Fink/ehoffe, '32, at 1977 Heiress (1947), The Traitor class reunion (1949), AffairsofState(l950) and
Ankles Aweigh (1955). He, too, wrote for television, including the McHale's Navy series. He began a biography of his close friend Judy Garland, but abandoned it because of her illness.
As most familiar with VMI history know so well, Brother Rat also launched the Hollywood career of Frank McCarthy, whose movie Patton earned him an Oscar as the best picture of 1970. For McCarthy, who died in 1986, as for Monks and Finklehoffe, BrotherRat was just the beginning.
The Instilule Reporl, March 31,1939, Plige 5
Brother Rat to Run April 20-22, 27-29
Cast, crew. andstaffofthe VMITheatre take a breakfrom rehearsals for the spring production ofBrother Rat, which opens April 20for sixperformances over two weekends. Thethree VMIroommateson whose cadet escapades the story is based areplayed by,Jront row from left, Thomas F. Austin, Thomas B. Kennedy, andDavidM Royer. Playing two ofthefour female roles are, front row, Mary McAdam and Stephanie J1lrmer, both ofSouthern Seminary.
Rehearsals are underway for the VMI Theatre's spring production ofBrother Rat, which opens Thursday, April 20. Thecomedy about VMI cadet life will be presented as dinner-theatre for six performances at Lejeune Hall over two successive weekends, April 20-22 and April 27-29. The dinner buffet begins at 6:30 p.m., the show at 8 p.m. A limited number of tickets are available for the play alone.
The combination dinner-theatre ticket is $15 for adults, $13 for students and senior citizens over 60, with non-refundable payment required to confirm dinner reservations. For reservations by mail, checks should be made to the VMI Theatre and mailed to VMI Box 5, Lexington 24450. Cadets, who are admitted to the play without charge, pay $10 for the dinner. Admission to the show alone is $5 for adults, $3 for students and senior citizens. Reservations may also be made by calling Lejeune Hall during the day, 464-7326, ortheTheatre office after 4 p.m., telephone 464-7389.
Heading the cast for BrotherRat are Cadets Thomas F. Austin as the incorrigible Billy Randolph; Thomas B. Kennedy as Dan Crawford; and David M. Royer as Bing Ed wards. Paul B. Kubin plays the role ofA. Furman Townsend, Jr.; Benjamin R. Dorman as Harley Harrington; James G. Lewis as "Mistol" Bottoms; Heath E. Wells as Lt. "Lace Drawers" Rogers; and Martin 1. Hawks as "Slim," the taxi driver. Other players include Jeffrey G. Covey, John R. Gentry, and John A. Ward. Ladies in the production include Mrs. Edna Pickral of Lexington as Mrs. Brooks; Carrie Shorter of Natural Bridge as Joyce Winfree; Southern Seminary senior Mary McAdam as Claire Ramm; and Southern Sem freshman Stephanie Varmer as Kate Rice. Capt. Harold A. Willcockson, deputy commandant, will play the role ofthe commandant, Col. Ramm.
The play is directed by Mrs. Joellen Bland, VMI Theatre director, with Col. Michael S. Harris, professor ofmodern languages and VMI Theatre adviser, as stage manager. Set construction is headed by Cadet Brian E. McCarthY.
The Impact of a Movie
Without question, BrotherRat was an unparalleled plug for VMI, with both the Institute and the town feeling the impact for years to come. In addition to the surge in applications for admissions, VMI experienced increasing numbers of visitors eager to see the setting of the play and movie. The Virginia Conservation Commission said it was the best Virginia publicity in years, and Brother Rat dolls were added to souvenir items in the post exchange and local gift shops.
VMI was also beset with requests to borrow cadet uniforms for stage productions ofthe play. Most came -as they still do -from university theatre groups or from costume houses seeking to buy uniforms for rental to such groups. To every inquiry, the reply was the same -no uniforms available for this purpose.
Brother Rat had a couple of Hollywood remakes, none sanctioned by VMI. The first was a 1940 release, Brother Rat -and the Baby, a comedy on the lives of the three cadets following graduation. It featured the original movie cast, and though there was no direct reference to VMI, some background shots left over from Brother Rat were used. A dozen years later, the studio produced About Face, a musical that starred Gordon MacRae at a fictional military school called SMI. The story line was similar to that of Brother Rat.
\
Page 6, The [nstilule Repor1, March 31, 1989
Notes
*Sesquicentennial greetings continue to come to VMI, most recently from the Virginia Section ofthe American Society of Civil Engineers. By resolution March 9, 1989, the state ASCE board of directors formally recognized the Institute's "150 years ofservice in engineering education" and added a salute for VMI's "immeasurable contribu­tions to the engineering profession." The resolution is signed by Society president Marvin H. Hilton.
* Maj. William R. Henry and Lt. Col. Henry C. Smith, III, both of the department of economics and business, will attend a Writing Across the Curriculum workshop to be conducted March 31-April 2 by the Institute for Writing and Thinking at Bard College in New York. The wor kshop will discuss inventi ve writi ng techniq ues to gi ve students a better understanding of the issues and problems in their course work in various fields of study, including economics.
*First classman Scott D. Leonard and Maj. Terry L. Davidson, assis­tant professor ofpsychology, were panel members at a recent Southern Seminary College symposium on date rape. Maj. Davidson presented research conducted on the subject by Michael Beyer, '88, and Cadet Leonard described VMI regulations with respect to the topic and informed those in attendance how to report violations.
* Dr. Mary W. Balazs, associate professor of English, was the fi nal judge in a recent national poetry contest. She also has two poems appearing in current literary magazines: "Poetry-in-the-Schools: The Fourth Grade Boys," in Roanoke Review at Roanoke College, and "Revising Poems," in Sun rust, a magazine of Westminster College and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.
*Col. D. Rae Carpenter, Jr., professor of physics, has been on the road again with his popular show of physics demonstrations. This month he presented programs at high schools in Roanoke and Covington. In April, he will be the star attraction at the Spottswood Ruritan Oub's Son and Daughter Night and will also serve as a judge at the Western Virginia Science Fair at Roanoke College.
* Mechanical engineering majors in the fourth class recently toured the facilities ofthe Lynchburg Foundry'sArcher Creek plant, which produces precision engineered ductile iron casting and is the chief supplier of the front and rear wheel spindles and disk brake calipers used on Ford's Taurus and Capri cars. The cadets heard a presenta­tion by the plant's engineering staff and were shown the steps and engineering control processes used in producing precision casting.
*An article by Maj. Terry L. Davidson, assistant professor of psychology, has been published in the March edition of Psychobiology. Itdescribes recent experiments by Davidson and Dr. Leonard Jarrard, of Washington and Lee University, that provide new information about the brain structures that underlie learning.
*
A contingent of26 VMI cadets and two coaches recently competed in the Los Angeles Marathon, traveling on military transportation for ROTC cadets, and all finished well among the top halfof the 18,861 competitors. One coach and nine cadets were in the top 10 percent. Assistant track coach Mark MacIntyre, in a time of2 hours 29 minutes and 32 seconds, was the fourth American to cross the finish line, ranking 37th over all; first classman David Royer was the top cadet runner, placing SOlst in a time of 3 hours 2 minutes.
*
Maj. Thomas Hugh Crawford, assistant professor of English, presented a paper, "Barfly in the Ointment: Charles Bukowski and the Dynamics of Contemporary Canonization," at Florida State University's Conference on Literary and Cinematic Representation in January. Itwas his fourth presentation ofa paper this session and his fifth since last February. He also has four new titles in progress, two being considered for publication and a third accepted for presen­tation at an international symposium in West Germany in August.
*Col. P. Allan Carlsson, professor ofphilosophy and associate dean for administration, attended the recent annual meeting in Savannah, Ga., of the Society for Philosophy of Religion. Former president of the Society, he served on the nominations committee and presented the slate of candidates to the business session.
*
Mrs. Lavonia F. Wright, programmer analyst in the department of academic computing, is co-author with Carlos I. Calle, associate pro­fessor of physics at Sweet Briar College, ofan article appearing in the current issue of The Journal oj Computers in Mathematics and Science Teaching. The article is entitled .~ Rutherford Scattering Simulation with Microcomputer Graphics. to
*
In early March, Col. Richard S. Trandel, professor and head of the mechanical engineering department, attended a three-day national conference sponsored by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers for mechanical engineering department heads. The conference, held in Orlando, Fla., was designed to set the tone of mechanical engineering curricula aims in the 1990s: implementing change, documenting experience, and identifying research needs.
*
The VMI commu nity was saddened to learn of the March 19 death of William A. Vaughan, '57, former Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy and a former member of the VMI civil engineering faculty, 1960-70. A lawyer and engineer, he was head of the energy and environmental division of a Washington, D.C., legal firm, which he joined in 1986 after four and a half years with DOE. As Assistant Secretary for Environment, Safety, and Health, he was responsible for emergency preparedness policies, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and the Naval Petroleum and Oil Shale Reserves. Before his government service, he was Director of Energy Manage­ment for General Motors Corporation. In addition to his degree from VMI, Vaughan, who was buried in his native Lynchburg, held a master's degree in engineering from Purdue University and a law degree from Washington and Lee.
*Col. David L. DuPuy, professor of astronomy, recently attended the 10th Fairborn Observatory Symposium in Tucson, Ariz., where he presented a paper preparedjointIy with Cadet Scott E. Mead, '90, on "The Role of Remote Access Automatic Telescopes in the Windowing of Variable Star Data. to
*
For the third time since January, Dr. D. Clayton James, John Biggs Professor of Military History, has received a nationally prestigious assignment, the most recent an appointment to the Marine Corps Command and StaffCollege Foundation's chair in military history. It involves two teaching stints at the Marine Education Center in Quantico, April 20-22 and again May 30-June 2. He will be lecturing at the Amphibious Warfare School and to faculty workshops and classes at the Command and Staff College.
*
Popular NBC weatherman Willard Scott delivered 150th birthday greetings to VMI on March 22 via the Today Show, on which he appeared wearing a cadet garrison cap. The nationally televised salute was to Lexington and VMI's sesquicentennial anniversary.
*
First classman Sean M. Halberg will compete in the standard pistol division at the national collegiate pistol championships April 6-9 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. He will be accompanied by rifle coach James A. Thorp, whose VMI pistol teams this year are ranked 11th nationwide in free pistol and air pistol. The ranking, based on sectional competition scores, makes the VMI team first alternate if a top ten team drops out.
*
Maj. Gen. John W. Knapp, dean of the faculty and acting superintendent, was one ofthree eminent engineers recently inducted into membership in The Citadel chapter of Tau Beta Pi, national engineering society. The ceremony took place during Corps Day ceremonies at The Citadel.
*
Finally, some things never change. The Corps went into white ducks on Monday, March 20. It also snowed. Fragments of VMI History: March Review
March -the third month of the Gregorian calendar, the month in which Spring officially begins, a month to which history and literature have given a kind of renown: "Beware the Ides of March," said the soothsayer to Julius Caesar before his assassination, and "mad as a March hare," a phrase describing the skittishness of hares, unusually shy and wild in March, which is their rutting season.
At VMI, March also has a certain significance, albeit not of the anniversary kind that is normally celebrated. In this sesquicentennial year, take a look at some miscellaneous facts.
Itwas exactly one hundred years ago -March 30, 1889 -that the Lexington Telephone Company was formed, although it took almost ten months, until January 1890, before the Board ofVisitors authorized the installation ofa telephone at VMI. The first installa­tion was in the VMI commissary, and for many years this was the only telephone on the post. When a message to a telegraph office was urgent, it was necessary to go to the mess hall.
On March 1, 1893, electricity was first turned on at VMI. "Elec­tricity was thought ofin terms oflight rather than power," says Col. William Couper in his centennial history, "and everyone was enthusiastic about the tremendous improvement, which was covered by a three-year contract under which the company furnished all fix­tures for furnishing light for the buildings and grounds for the sum of$1,500 a year." Officers living in the houses on the parade ground were allowed $30 a year for lights, an allowance later set at 30 kilowatt hours instead of a fixed money value. Almost a century later, electric power to VMI costs approximately $400,000 annually.
By the 1920s, clerical work was increasing in office administration at VMI, and on March 1, 1925, the Institute employed its first stenographer to handle much of the record keeping that for years had been assigned to the post adjutant. She was Miss LauraA. Cooke, who was employed as secretary to the superintendent and business executive. Her arrival marked the beginning of a long line of office and departmental secretaries -today there about 60 -who have given devoted and invaluable service to the Institute.
Itwas also March that brought the VMI Corps of Cadets its first spring furlough in 1951. The annual spring break followed a Board of Visitors decision to abolish the old practice ofsuspending academic and military duty on traditional one-day holidays and to give cadets instead a full week of spring vacation.
Bloodmobile Coming April 4-5
Do Your Part
First classman Jose Corpuz. a dean's list mechanical engineering major/rom Chicago, demonstrates computer aided drafting to one group 0/some30area high school students and parents who attended an engineering open house at VMI during National Engineers Week in February. The event, sponsored by theEngineering Society 0/VMI, featured presentations on engineering careerfields, suggestions/or freshman year survival, and tours 0/VMI engineering laboratories.
The Insliwle Report, March 31, 1989, Page 7
Like Father, Like Son
7azewelt Ellett, Jr., '06 Tazewell Ellett, III, '44
When he became president of the VMI Alumni Association, Tazewell Ellett, III, '44, knew that his father would have been pleased. Instinctively, he says, he also knew that his father, had he been alive, would have muttered, with proud affection, that wry and age-old pro­nouncement that the Institute is going to hell.
Lest a reader unfamiliar with the ways of VMI get the wrong idea, let it be made clear here and now that the tongue-in-cheek statement is but a humorous endearment between generations of VMI men. Since 1842 when the first graduates became alumni, men of VMI have determinedly believed that life in the Corps will never again be as tough as it was during their own cadet days.
Within the VMI family, genetic bonds are an established fact, one well demonstrated just last year with the graduation offifth genera­tion cadet Benjamin W. L. Semmes, III, '88, whose great great grand­father began the family line at VMI in the class of 1860.
Today, Taz Ellett, a third generation VMI graduate, represents still another link among those family bonds, this in the chain of fathers and sons who have held the same positions or honors at VMI. His distinguished father, Tazewell Ellett, Jr., class of 1906, was president of the VMI Alumni Association from 1932 to 1934. It is a distinction they share with father-son pairs in a number of VMI parallels.
John M. Camp, Jr., '40, immediate past president of the VMI Foundation, Inc., held the same position that his esteemed father John
M. Camp, '05, held as Foundation president from 1950 to 1963. Similarly, the father-son team of George G. Phillips, '25, and G. G. Phillips, Jr., '60, served as president of the VMI Keydet Club in 1955-57 and 1973-75, respectively. Subsequently, both also served as members of the VMI Board of Visitors, as did the father-son team of Abney S. Boxley, '25, and A. S. Boxley, Jr., '55.
In Corps leadership, two father-son pairs have served as regimental commanders of the Corps: Charles E. Moore, '13, and C.E. Moore, Jr., '41, and Peyton J. Marshall, '18, and P. J. Marshall, Jr., '52. Although this brief survey will not attempt to list such pairings at every rank, it is noteworthy that already in the relatively brief history ofthe regimental band there has been a father-son succession as band com­pany captain: Ronald G. McManus, '58, and R. G. McManus, Jr., '84.
Other family combinations share the distinction in the award of VMl's highest cadet honors, the prized Cincinnati and Jackson-Hope Medals. In the ll1 years since establishment of the Jackson-Hope Medal, there have been two pairs of father-son winners: Nathaniel B. Tucker, class of 1888, and N.B. Tucker, Jr., '29, and Frank G. Louthan, Jr., '41, and EG. Louthan, III, '66. Similar distinction in the award of the Cincinnati Medal is shared by Brig. Gen. Lloyd L. Leech, Jr., '42, and his son James J. Leech, '78, and by retired dean ofthe faculty Maj, Gen. James M. Morgan, Jr., '45, and J.M. Morgan, III, '84.
Ellett is the Alumni Association's 48th president, and last month the Richmond Realtor and his wife Marguerite chalked up their 48th trip to Ledngton over the 20 months since he took office in July 1987. Old Taz, to be sure, is popping his angel buttons with pride. And if from the clouds there comes an Old Corps echo that things aren't what they used to be, the sons of VMI take it in stride. After aU, they've heard that story before. Page 8. The Institute Report. Match 31.1989
Calendar of Events: April 1989
SATURDAY, APRIL 1:
8:30 a.m. Board of Visitors meeting, Smith Hall 8 p.m. Rockbridge Chorus Spring Concert, Lee Chapel. 9 p.m. Easter hop, informal, Cameron Hall.
SUNDAY, APRIL 2: Daylight Savings 11 me begins 2 p.m. Tennis, VMI vs. Furman, Patchin Field courts.
MONDAY, APRIL 3:
6:15 p.m. Reception and dinner for 4th class civil engineering majors, guest speaker Dr. Eugene A. Silva, Office ofNaval Research and director, Planning and Assessment Directorate, Moody Hall.
7:30p.m. Sesquicentennial Heritage Lecture, "Georgee. Marshall, '01," by biographer Dr. Forrest C. Pogue, Cameron Hall.
TUFSDAY, APRIL 4:
10 a.m. Bloodmobile, open to 4 p.m., Lejeune Hall.
Noon Library Research Progress Report, "A Model for Leadership Development," Col. Floyd H. Duncan, Preston Library rare book room. Bring lunch; coffee and brownies available. 8 p.m. English Society and Cadet Program Board presentation of Pulitzer Prize political cartoonist Doug Marlette. JM Hall.
WEDNFSDAY, APRIL 5:
10 a.m. Bloodmobile, open to 4 p.m., last day, Lejeune Hall.
2 p.m. Tennis, VMI vs. East Tennessee, Patchin Field courts.
3:30 p.m. Lacrosse, VMI vs. Radford, Patchin Field.
THURSDAY, APRIL 6:
3 p.m. Baseball, VMI vs. JMU, Patchin Field.
7:30 p.m. ACS meeting. guest speaker Dr. Fred M. Hawkridge of VCU, "Use of Spectroelectrochemical Methods in Studying Redox Reactions," III Maury-Brooke Hall.
8 p.m. VMI Theatre, The Lighter Side ofMilitary Life, Scott Shipp
Hall, call 464-7389 after 4 p.m. for reservations.
8 p.m. English Society movie, Manchurian Candidate, chemistry lec­ture
room, $2 charge for non-members.
FRIDAY, APRIL 7: 4 p.m. Retreat review. 8 p.m. VMI Theatre, The Lighter Side ofMilitary Life, Scott Shipp Hall, call 464-7389 after 4 p.m. for reservations.
SATURDAY, APRIL 8: Corps Visit Weekend
All day Track, VMI, UVa., JMU, W&M, George Mason, Alumni Field.
1 p.m. Baseball doubleheader, VMI vs. Appalachian, Patchin Field.
2 p.m. Tennis, VMI vs. Western Carolina, Patchin Field courts.
8 p.m. VMI Theatre, The Lighter Side ofMilitary Life, Scott Shipp.
SUNDAY, APRIL 9:
1 p.m. Baseball, VMI vs. Appalachian State, Patchin Field.
MONDAY, APRIL 10:
2 p.m. Tennis, VMI vs. \\bfford, Patchin Field courts.
7:30 p.m. Planetarium show, "Understanding the Galaxies." Ifnight is clear, observatory will also be open after planetarium show.
TUFSDAY, APRIL 11:
1 p.m. Registration, Marshall ROTC Seminar, Marshall Library.
WEDNFSDAY, APRIL 12:
11 a.m. Opening session, Marshall ROTC Seminar, remarks by Maj. Gen. R. E. Wagner, VMI '57, commanding general, ROTC Cadet Command, and Secretary of the Army, Cameron Hall.
1 p.m. Marshall Seminar plenary session, speaker CoL Guy S. Gardner; USAF, Atlantis space shuttle pilot, Jackson Memorial Hall.
3 p.m. Baseball, VMI vs. Radford, Patchin Field.
4 p.m. Parade and presentation of Marshall insignia carried aboard Atlantis space shuttle mission in December 1988. 9 p.m. Marshall Seminar plenary session, address by Army Chief of Staff Oen. Carl E. Vuono, JM Hall.
THURSDAY, APRIL 13:
8:30 a.m. Marshall Seminar plenary session, address byGen. Maxwell R. Thurman, commanding general, TRADOC, Lee Chapel.
FRIDAY, APRIL 14: High school coaches' football clinic. conducted by Keydet foot­ball staff, Cameron Hall.
8:50 a.m. American Military Institute conference concurrent panel ses­sions, "Military Education in England" and "Origins of Military Education."
FRIDAY, APRIL 14: conlinued
9 a.m. Marshall Seminar closing plenary session, Lee Chapel.
10:50 a.m. American Military Institute conference panel sessions, "Military Education in Modern Germany" and "Founding of the U.S. Military Academy. "
2 p.m. American Military Institute panel sessions, "Preparing for the Future \¥.ir," "Late 19th Century Military Education," and "Influence in Military Education of Classical Figures."
3:30p.m. Lacrosse, VMI vs. Virginia Tech, Patchin Field. 4p.m. Parade.
SATURDAY, APRIL 15: High school football coaching clinic, Cameron Hall.
9 a.m. American Military Institute panel sessions, "Case Studies in Professional Military Education, " "Developments in Military Education Between \\brld \¥.irs," and "Military Education in Brasil."
1:15 p.m. American Military Institute panel sessions, "Military Educa­tion for the Professions," "Education and Training in the Air Force," and "New Dimensions in Military Education."
3:15 p.m. American Military Institute panel sessions, "Military Educa­tion in Revolutionary France," "American Military Historiography," and "Thinking About War."
SUNDAY, APRIL 16:
9:30 a.m. Army memorial chapel service, Jackson Memorial Hall.
8 p.m. Rockbridge Concert-Theatre Series, The Marriage ofFigaro, Pittsburgh Opera Theatre, Lexington High SchooL
MONDAY, APRIL 17:
3 p.m. Baseball, VMIvs. University of Virginia, Patchin Field.
WEDNFSDAY,APRIL 19:
3 p.m. Baseball, VMI vs. Shenandoah, Patchin Field.
3:30 p.m. Lacrosse, VMI vs. Guilford College, Patchin Field.
7:30 p.m. Lecture, "Current Tumult in Eastern Europe," Dr. Krzysztof Jasiewicz ofthe Academy ofSciences, Poland, current visiting professorat Roanoke College, Nichols Engineering auditorium.
THURSDAY, APRIL 20:
6:30 p.m. Dinner-theatre presentation by VMI Theatre of Brother Rat, Lejeune Hall, for reservations call 464-7326 before 4 p.m., 464-7389 after 4 p.m.
FRIDAY, APRIL 21:
11:30 a.m. Faculty Woman's Club spring luncheon, Moody Hall.
3 p.m. Tennis, VMI vs. Appalachian State, Patchin Field courts.
4 p.m. Retreat review.
6 p.m. Navy-Marine Mess Night, Holiday Inn.
6:30
p.m. Dinner-theatre presentation of Brother Rat, Lejeune Hall.
SATURDAY, APRIL 22:
1 p.m. Baseball doubleheader, VMI vs. The Citadel, Patchin Field.
2 p.m. Lacrosse, VMI vs. Randolph-Macon College, Patchin Field.
6:30
p.m. Dinner-theatre presentation of Brother Rat, Lejeune Hall.
SUNDAY, APRIL 23:
1 p.m. Baseball, VMI vs. The Citadel, Patchin Field.
TUFSDAY, APRIL 25:
3:45 p.m. Modern languages honor society inductions, Scott Shipp Hall
7:30 p.m. Planetarium show, "Understanding the Galaxies. "Ifnight is clear, observatory will be open following planetarium program.
THURSDAY, APRIL 27:
6:30 p.m. Dinner-theatre presentation of Brother Rat, Lejeune Hall.
FRIDAY, APRIL 28:
4 p.m. Retreat review for retiring and departing faculty and staff.
5 p.m. Faculty social hour, Moody Hall.
6:30 p.m. Dinner-theatre presentation of Brother Rat, Lejeune Hall.
8 p.m. Sesquicentennial concert, Marine Corps Combat Development Command Band, Cameron Hall.
SATURDAY, APRIL 29: Corps Visit Weekend
At VMI, Sixth Marine Division reunion. 3 p.m. Lacrosse, VMI vs. W&L, Alumni Memorial Field. 6:30p.m. Final dinner-theatre presentation ofBrother Rat, Lejeune Hall.
SUNDAY, APRIL 30: 3 p.m. University Rockbridge Symphony Orchestra family pops con­cert, with guest Bob McGrath of Sesame Street, Cameron Hall.