Marion rebounds from controversy, budget cuts

MARION, Ala. (AP) — College life isn't about parties and freedom from authority for Nolan Michalski.

Weekday mornings, the 21-year-old Memphis native is in uniform and, by 7 a.m., standing in formation, saluting as the flag goes up. His college town is quaint and quiet, lacking the typical bar scene.

Marion is all right, he says, "except for being in the middle of nowhere and my cell phone not working."

But Michalski, who has wanted to be an Army officer since he was in the sixth grade, has found a place and a focus as he prepares for a future in a time of war.

"There is a sense of urgency," said the rising sophomore in Marion Military Institute's junior college program. "You are more than likely going to be leading 20 or 30 people into combat in a few years. You have to take this seriously."

These also are serious times for MMI, a private military school that traces its origins back 163 years. It has fought its way back from a decline in enrollment and the departure of a president amid a controversy over whether to move from the small central Alabama town. The Alabama Legislature cut MMI's state appropriation in half during a recent budget crisis, and the school struggled to pay the interest on its debt.

Besides that, the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan presented recruiting challenges.

But enrollment has rebounded, with more than 330 cadets expected this fall, including high school freshmen and college sophomores. This spring, Marion is sending 32 graduates to the U.S. military academies: 16 to West Point, 12 to the Air Force Academy, one to the Naval Academy and three to the Coast Guard Academy.

Story on an excellent military junior college in Marion, Alabama. As to the controversy over the failed movement to Anniston and Ft. McClellan (which they really don't discuss in detail in this article), I really wished they would have moved there. They would have much more room for expansion and would have been able to make good use of the buildings and training facilities (quite a few of which were new when the post closed) there.

This spring, Marion is sending 32 graduates to the U.S. military academies

Not a bad record, IMHO

2 posted on 05/30/2005 5:20:06 PM PDT by Ace's Dad ("There are more important things: Friendship, Bravery...")

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