May 18. 2026 Editor, The News-Gazette: While waiting for VMI’s graduation ceremonies to begin my mind began to wander. How well will the class of 2026 stack up with those that preceded? Will this class be able to play in a world no classroom can teach?
Such questions drew me back to an interview James Arthur Lovell Jr. gave shortly before the Apollo astronaut died last year: “When I looked down at the Earth itself, I started to wonder why I was here — what’s my purpose here — how did I figure our what I see? And then it sort of dawned on me ... that God had given mankind a stage upon which to perform. How the play turns out is up to us.”
After VMI’s newly minted graduates left Cameron Hall, my doubts were erased. Don’t worry, Jim, if VMI has any say the play will turn out just fine.
DAVID REYNOLDS Rockbridge County
