
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, May 23, 1993                   TAG: 9305230068
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LEIGH ALLEN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

VMI GRADS TOLD: AIM TOO HIGH

San Diego Chargers head coach Bobby Ross told Virginia Military Institute graduates Saturday to set their goals above what they could ever expect to achieve.

Because of the school's reputation, he said, VMI graduates carry the responsibility of being looked upon as leaders. "A leader is a communicator," Ross said to the school's 151st graduating class. "It does not take any particular size to be a leader."

Ross told the story of a running back he coached while at the Citadel military college in South Carolina. That player listed as his only goals to become a dean's list student and to win the Heisman Trophy as the most outstanding football player in the country.

After Ross told him his goals were far too lofty to ever reach, that player gained more yards than Hershel Walker, the eventual winner of the Heisman, and finished the season with three Heisman votes. He also became a dean's list student. "Let people know what they can expect of you," Ross said. "Set your goals high and don't be afraid to fail. Be less concerned with your image than your accomplishments."

VMI students picked Ross, who graduated from VMI in 1959 and coached football there, to be their commencement speaker after he won the National Football League's Coach of the Year Award this year.

Ross spoke after the valedictorian's address given by Thomas Carlsen, a regimental commander cadet from Lancaster, New York.

Carlsen told his "brother rats" they would not be successful unless they combined the knowledge they acquired in the classroom with the sense of honor they gained from the school's traditions.

Carlsen cautioned his classmates not to assume that a VMI diploma is a ticket to success. "Cadets often have a misconception that the VMI reputation will automatically pave a road for them to follow," Carlsen said. "What we do with the experience from VMI is the determining factor."

Eighty-seven of the 219 members of the class of '93 say they will take commissions in the military. About 25 say they plan to attend graduate schools or get jobs.

The First Jackson-Hope Medal for highest scholastic achievement went to Lonnie M. Fender of Yorktown, Va.; the Second Jackson-Hope Medal for second highest academic accomplishment went to Jason L. Bialon of Belle Vernon, Pa.

by CNB