Riverside News

Riverside Military Academy announces two endowed scholarships. The National Security Scholarship Fund was created with a gift of $100,000 from Riverside parent Frank “Chris” Whitlock. A member of the RMA Board of Trustees, Paul A. Gross, established the Paul A. Gross Endowed Scholarship with a gift of $50,000.

Whitlock is a co-founder of Edge Consulting, which is now a part of IBM. He served in the military and as a civilian member of the Intelligence Community. Whitlock’s vision is to provide scholarship aid to sons of families in which both parents are serving in the military. He believes that even one family member serving in the military means the whole family serves together, and it is a unique sacrifice for military families to live in a state of war over a period of many years, particularly when both parents are deployed simultaneously.

“We desire to create an endowment that will make Riverside a possibility for a number of boys annually by giving full or partial scholarship assistance,” says Whitlock. “We are looking for individuals and companies with a similar passion for supporting this community to help fund the endowment.”

The National Security Scholarship Fund will focus on supporting the sons of parents currently deployed in Iraq or Afghanistan. The scholarship will provide an opportunity for these young men to attend one of the premier private academies for boys—Riverside Military Academy. Whitlock believes that Riverside offers a supportive environment for a boy to achieve his potential across academic, athletic, and leadership dimensions while receiving individual attention and example setting from strong adult leaders. 

“The reality is that most private school tuitions are beyond the reach of military families,” asserts Whitlock.  “For some of these children, we believe a different path can lead them to a bright tomorrow while lessening the load both on the children and the families.”

Gross, who spent one year as an RMA student, retired as president of the hospital division of Humana, Inc. in 1992. He also retired as a professor of health administration from the School of Medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University. 

Gross established the Paul A. Gross Endowed Scholarship with the intent that it be used for financial aid for new students whose parent(s) have been or are deployed in the United States Armed Forces and who are financing tuition through Riverside. 

“It is my pleasure to make this gift and join Chris Whitlock in his desire and passion to aid the siblings of those parents who are being deployed in one of the branches of our Armed Services,” states Gross.

“Chris Whitlock and Paul Gross have established endowed scholarship funds to support the families of soldiers, sailors, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen serving our nation in the War on Terror,” says Dr. James H. Benson, Ed.D., Col USMC (Ret), president of Riverside. “We are grateful that they have sacrificed to support these families.”

U.S. Congressman Tom Graves will host the 9th Congressional District Service Academy Information Fair on Riverside's campus on Sunday, October 10.  Representatives from the U.S. Military Academy - West Point, U.S. Air Force Academy, U.S. Merchange Marine Academy, U.S. Naval Academy and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy will have exhibit booths available to answer questions.

Who should attend?  Any students in grades eight or higher that are interested in attneding one of these academies.  Each of these five service academises will be giving a 10 minute presentation that will explain their admissions process.  Early participation is encouraged in order to develop the strongest candidates for these highly competitive institutions.  School counselors are also welcome.

The service academy information fair begins at 10am on October 10 and will conclude around 1pm.  The event will be held in the Sandy Beaver Center Theatre.  To RSVP, contact Congressman Graves' office at 770.535.2592 or Riverside's admissions office at 770.532.6251 ext. 2119.

Following this event, Riverside will be hosting an Open House for any prospective families and cadets interested in attending Riverside.  Registration for this event begins at 1:30pm. To register to attend the RMA Open House, call 770.532.6251 ext. 2119 or email stadman@riversidemilitary.com. 

Riverside Military Academy congratulates C/LTC Matthew T. Hopkins for his appointment to the position of Battalion Commander for the 2010-11 academic year. Battalion Commander is the highest-ranking position in the Corps of Cadets at Riverside. Hopkins’ duties include leading the Battalion at all formations and working with his staff and school administrators in coordinating activities of the cadet battalion to ensure accordance with all school regulations. The 2010-11 Riverside Corps of Cadets consists of over 350 students from 15 countries.

Hopkins, a senior, has attended Riverside since 2006.  He is a member of the Horton Society, one of Riverside’s oldest and most prestigious organizations, which was named in honor of Col. O.R. Horton. The society embraces school spirit and seeks to emulate the highest ideals of integrity and selfless service. He is also Vice President of the National Honor Society in which he earned a membership by demonstrating the qualities held in high esteem by the society: scholarship, service, leadership, and character. He is also a member of the varsity Cross Country team.

C/LTC Hopkins, from Bowling Green, KY, is the son of Gary and Karen Pannell and the late Ricky Clay Hopkins.

The month of June was an exceptionally busy month on campus with summer school starting on June 20 with a record enrollment of 124 cadets. Concurrently, Riverside Military Academy named Dr. James Robison as the new academic dean.  

A native of Atlanta, Dr. Robison is the former headmaster at Lakeview Academy in Gainesville. Dr. Robison brings academic as well as military credentials to Riverside. His Ph.D. is in English from Oklahoma State University. He holds a master’s degree in teaching from Middle Tennessee State University and a Bachelor of Arts from Vanderbilt University. 

His U.S. Army active duty career was from 1969-1972, and he is Airborne and Ranger certified, and served as an infantry officer in Vietnam. He retired as a lieutenant colonel from the U.S. Army Reserve in 1998.

His education career spans over thirty years of teaching students at every level from seventh graders to college seniors. He has taught in public and private schools and colleges, but his administrative experience has been entirely in independent schools: English Department Chair and Dean of Faculty at Brentwood Academy (Nashville), Upper School Director at Montgomery Academy (Montgomery, AL), and Headmaster at Texas Military Institute (San Antonio), Charleston Collegiate School (Charleston, SC), and at Lakeview Academy (Gainesville, GA). His published work includes stories, articles, and a book on the fiction of Peter Taylor.

Dr. Robison and his wife Louise and daughters Emily (6^th grade) and Ginny (10^th grade) live in Gainesville, and Louise teaches in pre-school. Jim is also the father of adult children. His daughter Lee is a college course coordinator who lives in Huntington, WV, with husband Allen and their son Finney. His son Vaughan has completed five years as an Army officer and is enrolled in a masters’ program at Notre Dame and working in New York.

Riverside's 75 seniors that comprised the Class of 2010 worked hard, played hard and accomplished much over the past year and their dedication has paid off.  As of June 1, our graduating class received over $4.1 in collegiate merit and athletic scholarships to colleges and universities spanning the United States, Canada and Mexico!  We proudly congratulate these outstanding young men and wish them much success in their new ventures.