Alumni Brigade membership drive extended to 4/15
"Class Warfare" is still ongoing as MMI alumni compete to see which class year can secure the most MMI Alumni Brigade Memberships for 2012. If you haven't yet joined the Brigade or renewed your annual membership, simply go online and fill out the form by Sunday, April 15.
Your $25 annual dues (or $500 for lifetime membership) go to support special campus projects directly benefitting the Corps of Cadets.
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ROTC News
STUDIES IN DIVERSITY
MMI's Bold Tiger Battalion is proud to have a pair of cadets representing Marion at two of the Army's elite diversity programs for the first time. Hollie Siekierka, who attends Judson College, was selected for the Army's Cultural Understanding and Language Proficiency (CULP) program-designed to immerse ROTC Cadets in various languages, cultures and socio-economic situations. Her summer overseas mission will take her to Tunisia. MMI Cadet Estevan Ramirez will become a summer student at Ft. Benning's Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), whose Spanish language-based curriculum draws a diverse student body from Latin America to Canada.
 | | LTC Sean Ryan, MMI PMS, with U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby (AL) and ROTC Cadet Hollie Siekierka at Judson College |
GREEN BERET TRAINING
From Jan. 13-15, cadets from the MMI Ranger Challenge team participated in the Pre-Special Forces and Assessment and Selection (SFAS) weekend at the National Guard Training Center located on the base of Ft. McClellan, Ala. Each quarter operators from the 20th Special Forces Group host the weekend to find those that have what it takes to be successful at the rigorous SFAS course held by U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School at Ft. Bragg, N.C. Those Soldiers who successfully complete the physically and mentally demanding events throughout the weekend are then given the chance to attend SFAS and begin the formidable process of earning the coveted Green Beret.
Working side-by-side with soldiers from across America hoping to earn their shot at attending SFAS, MMI's Ranger Challenge team participated in events such as the Army Physical Fitness Test, 5-mile run, team building exercises, and a 10 mile rucksack march.
Mr. Justin Baxter, an Army ROTC instructor who is the team's sponsor and is himself a Green Beret, had been preparing the cadets for six months prior to attending the event in two-a-day physical training sessions.
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Upcoming Events
April 12 - Dothan Area Alumni & Friends Mixer
April 14 - Vaiden Fly-In
April 16 - MMI Monday in Birmingham
April 19-21 - Alumni Weekend 2012
April 27 - Spring Formal
May 7 - SAP Convocation
May 12 - Graduation/ Commissioning
June 24-30 & June 29-July 5 - Tiger Camp
SCHOOL CALENDAR
Email Marietta Holmes for details on any event.
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Daniel Foundation Gifts $25K to Physics Dept.
MMI is proud to announce its most recent gift from The Daniel Foundation of Alabama in the amount of $25,000 to facilitate the renovation of the physics laboratory. This renovation is in direct support of MMI's overall strategic effort to continually modernize its academic programs.
A key aspect of this modernization effort is aimed at developing MMI's capability to help meet the growing need for Science Technology Engineering Math (STEM) education in this country by establishing robust STEM-based academic general educational opportunities, and specific pre-professional concentration offerings in pre-engineering, pre-nursing, and pre-pharmacy.
"I'm very grateful for the opportunity given us by The Daniel Foundation of Alabama. We have had a pressing need to modernize the physics curriculum, and this grant will start us along that way," Physics Instructor, LCDR Curtis Meisenheimer declared. "With these funds, we will be able to move toward computerized data collection and analysis which is now the standard in most universities. This will also allow us to move toward a hands-on approach to the classroom experience." |
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Spring Video Shoot Captures Cadet Life
On March 27, MMI hosted a video crew on location to shoot a promotional piece for American Milestones, an affiliate of Public Television. The day's footage captured included everything from art class to Lunch Roll Call to rappelling.
When the production cycle is complete, MMI will own a new promotional video and commercial, and an educational piece will be distributed to PBS stations nationwide. Funding for this marketing project was provided by the MMI Capital Campaign.
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McAleer Donates Cessna Skyhawk to Flying Tigers Program
 | | Vince, Bethany and Will McAleer with Flying Tigers advisors Dr. Sam Stevenson and COL Bill Hansen, USMC (Ret) |
Mr. Vince McAleer of Birmingham, a supporter of the cadet flight training program, recently donated a 2002 Cessna 172R Skyhawk to the MMI Foundation. On the afternoon of March 27, he and daughter Bethany McAleer (both pilots) landed the aircraft at local Vaiden Field. The single-engine, four-seater with leather interior is certified for VFR and IFR training.
Our growing Vaiden Fly-In, now in its 4th year, was actually the brainchild of Bethany, a former honors student at the University of Alabama. Hosted by the MMI Flying Tigers Club, the Fly-In will be held Sat. April 14 from 9 a.m.-2 p.m.; the McAleer family continues to stay involved in the event.
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JOIN US BACK IN MARION
Alumni Weekend 2012
4/19-4/21
Register Online Now!
Book Your Hotel
Schedule of Events
Questions? email Alumni Director Carrie Williams '93/94 or call 334-683-2350.
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Battalion Commander Brown Named Coca-Cola All-USA Silver Scholar 
Cadet Battalion Commander Jeriel Brown, a Minter, Ala., native, represented MMI at the recent Alabama Community College System's All-Alabama Academic Team Banquet where he was recognized as a Coca-Cola All-USA Community College Academic Team Silver Scholar.
A member of the Alabama Army National Guard, he is a graduate of the Army's Airborne School (May 2011) and Drill Cadet Leaders Training - Combat Engineering (July 2011). After commissioning in May, Brown plans to attend North Georgia College & State University.
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CAPITAL CAMPAIGN GRAND GALA
WAS AN EVENING FOR CELEBRATION
MMI alumni, staff and supporters from Alabama and beyond gathered at the Montgomery Country Club on March 30 to celebrate the benchmark of raising more than $4.4 Million for the Capital Campaign. Hosting the cocktail event were Mr. and Mrs. H. Dean Mooty, Jr. '75HS/'77JC.
Following his moving and patriotic speech on answering the call to duty, Capital Campaign Chair Mr. Jimmy Rane '64HS was formally inducted into the Order of the Crest Society. Recognizing MMI's faithful supporters who helping to modernize the college was the theme of the evening.
Make an impact with your contribution!
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Cadet Life Spring 2012
 | | Band Company and the White Knights march in a DisneyWorld parade. |
 | | February field trip to the High Museum of Art in Atlanta |
 | | Cadets take part in a community clean-up project |
 | | A cadet prepares to dunk Commandant COL Tom Tate during Perry County's Night of Hope fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. |
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Shared on facebook: Alumni Reunion
LTCs Awtrey and Burley: MMI Class of 1990 and Commsioning class of 1990 reunion at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait
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Basketball Earns Post-Season Awards
Three Marion Military Institute men's basketball players were recognized for their on-the-court efforts this year when the Alabama Community College Conference (ACCC) announced the post-season basketball awards on March 19. Head Coach Tommy Suitts and his assistant Willie Watson finished their first season with 21 wins, a school record, and a #2 seed in the ACCC North region. "This was a rewarding season in many ways. Everyone associated with this team is proud of all accomplishments, both individual and as a team. However, as a former student here at Marion, I am most proud of and thankful for the class and character that these young men exhibited as both athletes and as cadets," commented Suitts.
Sophomore David Murray, a 6'4" forward from Leeds, Ala., took home the Player of the Year awards for both the Northern League as well as for Region XXII. Murray led Marion with a 16.93 point per game average while grabbing 7.7 rebounds per contest.
Dominique Ellis, a 6'4" forward from Tuscaloosa, earned 1st Team All-Northern League and 2nd Team All-Region XXII honors. Ellis transferred to MMI after playing one season at Northwest Shoals Community College when that school made the decision to drop their sports programs. He finished the season averaging 13.3 points and 6.1 rebounds per game while shooting a team high 61% from the floor.
Sherman Smith, a 5'8" point guard from Birmingham earned 2nd Team All-Northern League honors. Smith averaged 8.2 points, 3.4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals for the Tigers. He also shot 41% from behind the 3-point arc. Noted Suitts: "Sherman's quiet leadership and consistent play were as important to our success as any single factor. Sherman got us into all of our sets and alignments, called most of our plays, and was, in my opinion, the best defensive guard in the conference."
 Fiorvante & Min Combine to Make Doubles Magic
MMI's dynamic and spectacular No. 1 doubles team, comprised of freshmen Alex Fioravante (Langhorne, Penn.) and Pil Ki Min (Norwalk, Calif.), has continued to improve and impress throughout the spring tennis season. Their record currently stands at a stellar 10-1.
Coach Wright bills the duo as the "fiery" Fioravante and the "mighty" Min because of their distinctive and complementary styles of play. Fioravante, who pounds the ball from both backhand and forehand wings, is the rabble-rouser of the two, while Min supplies the creativity, the touch, and the angles.
The titanic tandem has beaten teams from the University of Mobile, Tuskegee University, Stillman College, Meridian Community College (two different doubles teams), Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, Hinds Community College, Gadsden State Community College, and Faulkner State Community College (twice).
Their lone loss has come against the No. 6-ranked JUCO team in the nation, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.
With the exception of Faulkner State's pair (the reigning ACCC No. 1 doubles champions), Fioravante and Min have played an international lineup of players from the following countries: Australia, Russia, Serbia, Venezuela, Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago, Colombia, and the Ukraine.
Coach Wright thinks the dynamic duo of Fioravante and Min will go down in the record books as one of MMI's greatest men's doubles teams of all time-if not the all-time best.
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