Military Academy Graduate Named Rhodes Scholar - Westley W. Moore, Valley Forge Military Academy and College - Brief Article

Black Issues in Higher Education, Feb 15, 2001

WAYNE, PA.

Westley W. Moore, a graduate of Valley Forge Military Academy and College, is one of 32 American men and women this year to be named a Rhodes Scholar.

Moore is Valley Forge's first Rhodes Scholar. He also is the first Early Commissioning Program graduate to achieve this honor.

Moore, 22, enrolled at Valley Forge as an eighth-grader. He says he had a problem with authority following the death of his father. "I didn't like to listen to people. I had no goals," he says.

By his senior year, he had earned a 3.5 grade-point average. He was known as a gifted public speaker and took second place in the Eastern Division of the American Legion Oratorical Contest. He was also elected captain for the varsity basketball team and class president that same year. In his final year as a cadet, he was named regimental commander and president of his class. He participated in the Early Commissioning Program and graduated as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserves, and upon completion of his degree he was promoted to 1st Lieutenant. He is a certified paratrooper, and this spring and summer he will begin his Army Reserve active duty obligation at the military intelligence school in Arizona.

Moore chose to continue his academic career at Johns Hopkins University and graduated in December 2000 with a degree in international relations. In September, he will travel to Oxford University in England where he hopes to pursue an advanced degree in international relations, international diplomacy and international business. Law school and eventually a career in U.S. foreign policy are included in his long-term plans.