December 2020 News Bulletin

UNC NROTC

Alumni Association

News Bulletin

December 2020

In this edition:

Message from the President
Midshipman Scholarships
Alumni Awards
2020 Donations
Call for Membership: Join, Renew, Upgrade

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Message from the President:

Membership of the UNC NROTC Alumni Association,

I hope all had a blessed and happy Christmas Season and wish you all a much more normal 2021....both for you and yours and the lives of our current Carolina NROTC midshipmen.

We wish that we had some firm plans to announce for events and programs for the coming semester; however, we will need to continue to anticipate more firm plans after the Administration and Unit Staff make their plans. Please stay tuned via the website and the UNC NROTC Alumni Association Facebook page for these announcements.

In the near term, we are anxiously planning new speaker programs through expanding the David Dawson Library, considering new awards, and formally reinstituting the Richard S. Johnson, Jr. Award (Honor Marine Corps Midshipman).

With that said, UNC NROTC Alumni Association would be grateful to be a recipient of any of your charitable year-end gifts for 2020.

Be well, Go Heels, Beat Texas A&M.........and Best in 2021 to our members!

Marianne Waldrop '87

2020 Midshipman Scholarships

Don Cuddington '86, Scholarship Chair

Due to COVID-19 restrictions and the resulting impact on the semester schedule, the 2020 Scholarships were presented virtually on 1 October 2020 during the unit's Leadership Lab.

MIDN 3/C Maya Spencer (Navy Option) is the recipient of the 2020 Koster Scholarship. She is from Charlotte, NC, and is majoring in Chemistry.

MIDN 3/C Joshua Hawkins (Marine Option) is the recipient of the 2020 Ledford Scholarship. He is from Greensboro, NC, and is majoring in Peace, War, and Defense.

MIDN 3/C Erin Storch (Navy Option) is the recipient of the 2020 UNC NROTCAA Scholarship. She is from Colorado Springs, Colorado, and is majoring in Mathematics.

2020 Alumni Awards

Steve Fish '85, Awards Chair

Due to COVID-19 restrictions these awards were announced at the virtual Annual meeting on 14 November 2020 with a planned in-person presentation at the annual meeting in 2021.

Distinguished Alumnus/Alumna Award

The Distinguished Alumnus/Alumna Award is a graduate of the UNC NROTC program who has distinguished himself or herself in contributions to our Nation, the armed services, industry or business, the arts, philanthropy, or other social contributions. This is not a "distinguished member of the military" award, and the individuals need not have been career members of the armed forces.

This year’s recipient is Rye S. Barcott, UNC NROTC Class of 2001

• Captain, USMC, Human Intelligence Officer-Bosnia, Horn of Africa and Iraq

• As an undergrad in 2001, co-founded Carolina for Kibera, promoting youth leadership, ethnic and gender cooperation in Nairobi, Kenya

• It is still a major affiliated entity of UNC today.

• 2001- co-edited “Armed Conflict in Africa” analyzing violence in Africa

• 2006 – provided testimony to the Iraq Study Group & was published in Proceedings about the Iraqi Military Intelligence Academy

• 2009 – MPA & MBA from Harvard

• Currently CEO of With Honor, veteran-led cross-partisan movement building a coalition of next-generation veterans in the US Congress, working to fix our broken, hyper-polarized American politics

• Co-founder of Double Time Capital, an impact investment firm focusing on clean energy and sustainability

• Author: It Happened On The Way To War, A Marine’s Path to Peace. His personal memoir of waging peace while fighting war. 2011 TED Book Club Selection

• Numerous writings published in The Washington Post, NY Times and on CNN

• Commencement Speaker, 2018 UNC-Ch & 2007 UNC-Ch School of Public Health

Distinguished Service Award

The Distinguished Service Award is a graduate (or former staff member), usually a Member of the Association who has distinguished himself or herself in contributions to the UNC NROTC Alumni Association. This criterion is intentionally nonspecific and can include any manner of contributions to the efforts of the NROTC Alumni Association.

This year’s recipient is Captain Eric S. Schneider, USN (Ret), UNC NROTC Class of 1986

• Has served two tenures on the Association Board of Directors for 9 years

• 1996-2000

• Association went from modest “non-profit” to IRS 501(c)3

• Helped establish the UNC NROTC AA website

• Helped establish funding for Dawson Library and Connor Award

• 2015-2019 – President

• Led the restoration of the entire Association

• Directed the overhaul and enforcement of By-Laws, Budget process and all three midshipman scholarships

• Personally represented the Association at all Commissionings, Awards Days, Alumni Panels and many other on-site events

Captain Schneider has tirelessly dedicated himself to the Association. Particularly in the last 4 years, he has been critically instrumental in the resurrection and invigoration that has restored the organization to the highest participation levels in its history.

2020 DONATIONS

If you still intend to make any tax deductible donations, please consider the UNC NROTC Alumni Association. There's still time! Click HERE to access our website page for options.

2021 Membership

If you haven't already done so, it is time to join or renew your membership for 2021.

Please become a paid member. We need you!