The VMI Leader Journey Podcast

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 link to her talk on our YouTube Channel. During our conversation, we discussed her experiences working in the male-dominated world of national security, her leadership competencies, and how she was able to take hold of her own destiny through perseverance, determination, and education. She now devotes her time to being an upstander for women and gender equality in the workplace through her work as a high school teacher, college professor, and board member.  She writes curriculum and uses her voice to inspire many young women to work in national security careers. I hope today’s episode will inspire you to face circumstances and challenges, as our title suggests, with a solution-focused mindset. Subscribe, share, and like this episode so we know how we’re doing!

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 our YouTube channel. During the panel discussions Sapp said to the audience, ‘I was just six or seven years out of VMI graduation and I was faced with this mission assigned to Team Alpha.’ He told the cadets, ‘Be vigilant. You guys are the vanguards of the United States.’ Join us for this episode of the VMI Leader Journey titled 'Be Vigilant!

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.” During our conversation, you will learn how she has challenged herself to seek out opportunities to connect in diverse settings, to incorporate feedback in her programming, and to her one-word approach for teaching diversity, equity, and inclusion at VMI. Dr. Love is a citizen leader! We hope you enjoy this episode. Connect with us and tell us what you think!

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 discussion. Followed by a book signing. Books will be on sale in the lobby of Marshall Hall. Visit our website for more information on the speakers, or email Kim Connolly.

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, Bingham said that she believes leaders should communicate, coordinate, and collaborate, but which one of these does she believe is the most important? Let’s listen in to find out! Don't forget to subscribe and help us grow our audience by sharing this episode!

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. We also got some insights into her support system. We even talked about her role as a 'dyke' mentor. Meredith has taken part in several interviews, especially given her historic role, but we think you'll agree that this one has a few more insights. 

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 understanding of team dynamics, particularly in crises.   As you listen to our interview, it will be no surprise to learn that Xu's top personal value is humility; in this episode, we've titled "Be Humble. There's More to Learn." We think that's a great message as we conclude our academic year of exploration on this year's theme, "Teamwork: Out of Many, One.  To learn more about the VMI Center for Leadership and Ethics, please visit our website at https://www.vmi.edu/cle. 

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 changed since the Rat Line and how VMI has prepared her to lead in diverse settings. She talked about the ‘little moments’ that change you and teach you how to lead. This podcast is a VMI Center for Leadership and Ethics product, which has three mission sets: cadet and faculty leadership development, co-curricular cadet programming, and strategic outreach. VMI's mandatory course 'LEAD344: Leadership in Organizations' is taught by faculty and staff of the center and a multi-disciplinary group of CLE fellows. The VMI Center for Leadership and Ethics is the proponent of the publication 'The VMI Leader Journey,' after which this podcast is named. You may find this publication linked from the bottom of our departmental homepage: vmi.edu/cle.