The Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation
Brigadier General Michael C. Wholley, USMC (Ret.) leads a dedicated volunteer crew to ensure that the sons and daughters of military personnel, including those who have lost a parent to terrorism, get a college education.
When Brigadier General Michael C. Wholley retired from active duty in 1996, he planned to serve as Executive Director of the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation (MCSF) for three years. But a request for a favor changed his plans. In 1997, at a Foundation golf tournament, a youngster approached him and asked, "General Wholley, would you please thank everybody for me?"
The young man, the oldest of five children of a father who served as a Marine in Vietnam, explained that because of his father's alcoholism, he was forced to work to help support the family while attending high school. "I never had enough time to study or for extracurricular activities, except church," he told Wholley. Deep down, this teen knew that given the opportunity, he could outperform any other student.
A guidance counselor and former Marine had helped the teen apply for a scholarship. "When they called my name, announcing that I had won an $1,800 dollar Marine Corps Scholarship, heads snapped around," the young man told Wholley. "It was the first time in my life that I was recognized. Now I'm carrying a 3.8 GPA in college engineering. I'll make you proud of me."
Although Wholley says that he has many similar success stories to share, this one stands out. "That kid gave me enough juice to keep me going for three more years," Wholley said.
As Wholley completes his fifth year on the job, he continues to bring his ex-fighter pilot's focus and intensity to his work, juggling paperwork and a cell phone while driving to a board meeting during this interview, like a pilot multi-tasking in the cockpit. This year, Wholley and his dedicated team have delivered $1.4 million in scholarship funds to serve 912 young scholars. The foundation has awarded over $1 million in scholarship funds each year for the past ten consecutive years.
Wholley's love of the job seems to come as much from the pleasure of working with the Foundation's network of noteworthy volunteers and board members, many of whom have impressive credentials and fascinating personal histories, as it does from awarding scholarships. "They are willing to give so much of their time and energy to this organization," he says. "It is people like Phil Johnson and his committee, as well as our volunteers across the country, who really are the heart and soul of this organization."
Col. Philip L. Johnson, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve (Ret.) has been chairman of the military committee of the Los Angeles Scholarship Ball for the past three years. "The Marine Corps takes care of it's own," Johnson says. "Our mission at the Foundation dovetails with that motto." Johnson himself attended college on a Navy ROTC scholarship that enabled him to go to Princeton, an opportunity that he says would not otherwise have been available. Johnson has a unique and personal appreciation for the significance of the Foundation's work. "I know how much the money I received meant to me," he says. "It's worth even more in today's economy."
Serving Survivors of Terrorism
Since the September 11th terrorist attack, the MCSF board voted to expand their mission to assist the children of American military personnel lost to terrorism, begun in 1983. Many police and fire personnel lost in the September attack were Marine reservists or former Marines. The Foundation will provide each of their children with scholarship assistance worth up to $10,000 for their higher education. "We are maxing out the contribution for these youngsters," Wholley says. Family income requirements will be waived and each child will receive up to $2,500 a year for the four years that they attend college. "If their parent gave their life in service to our country, we want to help." Wholley says.
The foundation provided the same service during the Gulf War, and awarded a $10,000 education bond to every child who lost a parent from any branch of the military due to enemy action.
In October 1983, when terrorists drove a truck loaded with explosives through the security perimeter of the United States Marine Corps Barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, 241 U.S. military personnel were killed and 80 seriously wounded. The Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation distributed education bonds to every orphaned child of a U.S. Marine lost in that attack.
The Primary Objective
The Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation provides scholarships to deserving sons and daughters of current and former United States Marines and Navy Corpsmen who have served with the Marines. Wholley says that winners are selected because they are "good red-blooded American kids," who might have grades that are ordinary, usually B and sometimes even C-averages, but who would not be likely to qualify for other scholarship programs.
"We really believe there are an awful lot of youngsters out there who seem ordinary in high school, but who are great kids. No one else might be helping these kids," Wholley says. "We do."
"While we have our share of terrific scholars, we also have a large number of recipients who, quite possibly, are not even considered by other scholarship organizations because they are "ordinary;" they are not "academically superior" or "gifted." What we believe, however, is that many of these "ordinary" kids will develop into extraordinary human beings as they mature if-and here is the philosophy of the Foundation-someone reaches out a hand and helps them, challenges them, tells them that they have the potential to excel, and gives them the necessary boost to achieve the next level. We do that, and we have seen the results," Wholley says.
Applicants must demonstrate a commitment to community service, by establishing a track record of volunteerism at churches, synagogues or community organizations. Each year, in the beginning of May, volunteers who must pay for their own travel gather at the foundation's offices at Princeton. Three individuals, who write down a dollar amount to be awarded, review every application. Amounts range from $500 to $2,500 annually and are renewable for four years. Decisions are based on the need demonstrated, as well as the merit of the scholar. The Foundation also awards three $10,000 scholarships every year.
Students who receive funding are pursuing all types of careers, although some do enter military service. Recipients become doctors, teachers, engineers and more. One female scholar is currently a resident in pediatric oncology at Yale. "We develop adults who have an appreciation for hard work and giving back," Wholley says. "For some kids, getting this scholarship is the difference between going to college or not going, or between going to the school of their choice or not."
The application form for the 2002-2003 academic year will be available for download at www.marine-scholars.org in January 2002.
A Noble Tradition of Fundraising
In 1962, a former Marine who had been awarded the Medal of Honor found that he could not afford to send his own child to college. When Brig. Gen. Martin F. Rockmore read his story in a New York newspaper, he and a small group of friends organized a charity ball that raised $1,500, enough to pay college tuition for the hero's child.
The tradition of raising funds through Scholarship Balls continues, with the most recent event held at The Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles. Scholarship Balls will take place in April 2002 in Chicago, New York and Philadelphia, in June in Washington, D.C. and in Los Angeles in October.
As chairman of the annual Los Angeles Ball, Col. Philip L. Johnson says that each event is truly rewarding. "People have been coming for years just because they like the organization," he says. "It's a magnificent evening." As many as 650 guests attend each year.
At each event, Johnson arranges to introduce a group of special significance in military history to the attendees. At October's Ball in Los Angeles, one guest turned to Johnson's wife and exclaimed, "There's so much history in this room!"
Noteworthy guests have included the Women Airforce Service Pilots ("WASP"), the first female military pilots, who flew every aircraft in the inventory and ferried U.S. planes to England. The Navajo Code Talkers, who transmitted messages in their native language, a code the Japanese never broke, and served in every assault the U.S. Marines conducted in the Pacific from 1942 to 1945 have also been featured. Other luminaries included the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African American U.S. Army Air Corps pilots, who escorted bomber missions into Germany and Rumania at the end of WWII and never lost a single bomber. The legacy of the Tuskeegee Airmen led to the desegregation of the U.S. Armed Forces.
Johnson piloted helicopters and C-130s in Vietnam and is now "Of Counsel" to Shaw, Terhar & LeMontagne LLP, a Los Angeles law firm. He is also immediate past chairman of the Aerospace Law Committee of the Defense Research Institute, the largest group of defense lawyers in the United States.
Golf tournaments across the nation also provide an enjoyable way to contribute to the education of military sons and daughters. Tournaments will be held in Miami in December 2001, and in 2002 in Amherst, Camp Pendleton, St Louis, Chicago, Washington D.C., Encino, Falmouth, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Dallas and New Jersey. Contact information is available at www.marine-scholars.org.
In a truly visionary strategic initiative this year, the Board of Directors authorized action to develop an endowment fund of at least $20 million over the next five years. This endowment will position the Foundation for continued success and growth in accomplishing its mission of providing scholarships to deserving young men and women from Marine families.
Low Overhead
Wholley seems particularly pleased that the foundation has unusually low administrative overhead. "It is critical that everything is beyond reproach," Wholley says. The foundation is audited each year by Ernst and Young and their latest reports shows that over 90% of the funds went directly to scholarships. "All the volunteers understand that what we are trying to do is help kids who need it," Wholley says, explaining why his network of helpers is happy to receive only coffee, donuts, and make-your-own sandwiches on scholarship selection day.
General Wholley is a native of Massachusetts. After graduating from Harvard University in 1966, he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Marine Corps. Upon completion of The Basic School, he received flight training and was designated a Naval Aviator in 1968. During the Vietnam War, he served in Vietnam as an F-4 Phantom pilot with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 115 and then with VMFA 542.
After returning to the United States and a tour at Marine Corps Air Station, Beaufort, South Carolina, he was assigned to a three-year tour as a fighter weapons and air combat instructor with the Royal Air Force in England. Returning to the United States in 1974, General Wholley attended Law School at the University of Virginia, graduating in 1977. His duties as a judge advocate in the Marine Corps included assignments as trial counsel, defense counsel, military judge, and several tours as Staff Judge Advocate to major Marine Corps commands.
In 1992, General Wholley was selected as the Chief Judge of the Navy-Marine Corps Trial Judiciary, the first Marine to hold that position. In 1993 he was promoted to Brigadier General and, for the next three years served as the Staff Judge Advocate to the Commandant and Director of the Judge Advocate Division at Headquarters, Marine Corps.
General Wholley also holds a Master of Laws Degree from George Washington University (1985), and a Masters Degree from the Naval War College (1989).
General Wholley retired from active duty in October 1996, and has served as the Executive Director of the Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation since November 1996.
He is married to Kathleen (Sheehy) Wholley and they have two sons: Griffin (22) and Clayton (16). General Wholley works principally from the Washington office of the Foundation and can be contacted there at 703-370-9001.
Gratitude and Honor
Scholarship recipients understand that as a child of a Marine, they've become part of an enduring legacy and an elite group of men and women, bound together by a lasting bond. "My father always told me, if I ever needed anything I could always count on the Marine Corps," wrote award winner, Caitlin E. Norton. Norton's father died of cancer after she graduated high school, and the young student worked multiple jobs to make ends meet. Her MCSF scholarship will allow her to attend Seattle Pacific University as a communications and business major. "Now as I embark on this new chapter of my life," she said, "I am certain I will accomplish my goals; after all, I am the daughter of a Marine."
For More Information, contact:
The Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation
P.O. Box 3008
Princeton, NJ 08543-3008
Phone: (800) 292-7777
Fax: (609) 452-2259
E-Mail: mcsf@marine-scholars.org
Website: www.marine-scholars.org
