A Curriculum of Conferences

By Capt. Jamie McGrath, ’90, U.S. Navy (retired), Director, Major General W. Thomas Rice Center

for Leader Development

When the Corps implemented the Leader Development Program last summer, it identified three pillars of leader development – experience, training, and education. The Rice Center for Leader Development supports all three of these pillars alongside the ROTC programs, the commandant’s staff, and the cadet training and academics staffs. One way the Rice Center supports experiences is by sponsoring cadet attendance at leadership conferences throughout the academic year.

During the 2023-2024 academic year, the Rice Center sent 35 cadets to 10 different conferences, ranging from conferences at Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in Lexington, Virginia, to Palermo, Italy.  

Cadets are selected for these conferences based on personal interest and their performance as cadets. Once selected, cadets meet with the staff member supporting each conference to discuss expectations to include personal and professional goals around each conference’s theme. Upon return, each attendee is required to submit a reflection on their participation in the conference to the commandant. Excerpts from some of those reflections are included below.

In October, eight cadets went to VMI for their conference on the topic “Principled Dissent: Navigating Moral Challenges.” During the two-day event, cadets participated in small group sessions and scenario-driven activities exploring their moral obligation to speak truth to power. Junior Cadet Abigail Sundberg reflected that, “The lessons and leadership attributes that I gained by partaking in this conference will be actively used in my time as a cadet, but more importantly in my future time as an Army officer. I appreciated the opportunity to participate in this conference and would encourage others to do so as well.”

January saw our return to the Naval Academy Leadership Conference in Annapolis, Maryland with nine cadets who were joined by five Defense Civilian Training Corps (DCTC) scholars (sponsored by DCTC). During the conference, cadets and DCTC scholars interacted with students from the service academies, all six senior military colleges, ROTC and leadership programs across the country, and cadets from over 20 other nations around a theme of “Learning to Lead - The Lifelong Pursuit of Excellence.” Cadet Alex Arriza, a junior in Army ROTC and participant in the conference said, “Hearing Maj. Ball open up about his difficult experiences as a leader and tie in lessons about character that I have heard during my time at Virginia Tech reinforced the importance to me of being a leader of character who prioritizes honor and ethics.”

Comically, Cadet Arriza also became an instant celebrity among midshipmen and made 4,000 friends during the conference at the annual Forrestal Lecture by asking for the new superintendent to grant the midshipmen brigade a free weekend – to which she agreed!

February was an active month with cadets headed to four separate events across the country. At the 64th Student Conference on National Affairs (SCONA) at Texas A&M University, Cadet Joey Bowers observed that, “It was an excellent opportunity to meet cadets and students from other SMCs and universities, but also to network with facilitators who were subject matter experts on national security and foreign affairs."

Cadets from the Corps’ honor committee traveled to the annual Citadel Honor Conference in Charleston, South Carolina. One attendee, Cadet James Scott, said, “During the conference, I enjoyed getting to know and talk to cadets and midshipmen from all over the country with varying views around the discussion of integrity in their schools and in the military.”

Two cadets also flew out to the National Character and Leadership Symposium at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Cadet Grace Purvis was in attendance and remarked, “One of the speakers, Col. Bree Fram, spoke about how the obstacles that you face in your life will help you grow, and it is likely that others may have experienced something similar. Always encourage others to have those challenging conversations about culture and seek mentorship.”

A team of cadets formed the delegation from Greece at the Model NATO conference sponsored by Howard University in Washington, D.C. At the conference, the group interacted with teams from other universities and Cadet Kayleigh Castro observed that, "Participating as the Greece delegation on the political committee was an amazing experience between coming up with a plan of action to select NATO's next secretary general, to discussing threats to NATO's southern neighborhood. Engaging in strategic discussions and crisis simulations enhanced my understanding of NATO's role in maintaining global security." 

This year, in addition to the normal slate of conferences, the Corps was invited to send representatives to the 4th International Forum on Peace, Security and Prosperity (IFPSP) in Palermo, Italy. Cadets Isaac Lerner and Nicholas Dominque represented not only the Corps but also the United States at this forum attended by over 200 cadets from 87 academies, universities, and training units in over two dozen nations. The companion article by Cadet Lerner on the next page describes this incredible opportunity in more detail.

Leadership conferences are an important element of the Leader Development Program and the Corps’ mission to “graduate leaders of exemplary character who are instilled with the values and skills essential for leadership success in service to the nation.” They provide cadets opportunities to interact with diverse students from across the nation and the world to broaden their perspective and further develop those values and skills essential to success.