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When BG William McCollough ’91, VSM, returns to the commencement stage this spring, he will do so not only as �ƹ���Ƶ’s 56th commandant of cadets and vice president for student affairs, but as a product of the institution’s enduring promise: to educate useful citizens prepared to serve.

BG McCollough, who concludes four years of leadership at �ƹ���Ƶ this semester, has been selected as the University’s commencement speaker. For graduating cadets and students, his presence at the podium represents something more than a distinguished resume; it reflects a life shaped by �ƹ���Ƶ’s ethos of duty, character, and commitment to the greater good.

“BG McCollough represents the very best of �ƹ���Ƶ. As a cadet, Marine, and now as both the commandant and vice president of student affairs, he has consistently demonstrated that leadership is about responsibility to others and service to something greater than ourselves,” says LtGen John Broadmeadow ’83, USMC (Ret.), 25th President of �ƹ���Ƶ. “Our soon-to-be alumni have benefited greatly from his example as someone who lives the values we ask them to uphold.”

A Calling Heard Early

Long before he arrived in Northfield, BG McCollough understood service through his family. Raised in Minnesota among relatives who had answered their calls to serve in uniform, he grew up with a sense that military service was not an abstraction but an obligation fulfilled when needed. “I always knew I would serve in uniform since I was a young kid,” he says. “I grew up hearing their stories and that reinforced what was probably already in my DNA.”

He initially planned to enlist in the Marine Corps through the Delayed Entry Program. A chance connection with retired Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, GEN Jack Vessey, redirected that path. Encouraged to pursue a scholarship, BG McCollough began considering where he might best prepare to lead.

He visited only one school, which would become his alma mater. Drawn by its reputation for producing principled leaders and its blend of military structure and rigor, BG McCollough chose �ƹ���Ƶ. The Hill offered what he sought: challenge, tradition, and a culture that expected young citizens to shoulder responsibility early and often.

Forged on The Hill

As a Rook, BG McCollough entered a world that demanded more than academic success. He learned �ƹ���Ƶ history and traditions, internalized the Cadet’s Creed and Honor Code, and embraced the expectation that one’s commitment is binding. The lessons were reinforced not only by cadre and commandants but by peers from across the country who had converged on a small Vermont campus with shared aspirations.

The friendships formed there became a constant through decades of moves and deployments. Classmates attended weddings, visited duty stations, and later returned to Northfield as parents. The bonds forged in barracks and on training fields proved durable precisely because they were built on shared hardship and shared purpose.

BG McCollough also absorbed the influence of faculty and mentors who modeled intellectual seriousness alongside military professionalism. Professors across disciplines instilled in him the idea that education was not about grades but about growth — about cultivating an inquisitive mind that would remain open long after graduation. That distinction, impressed upon him as a cadet, would guide his approach to leadership in uniform and later as commandant.

Outside the classroom, athletics provided another arena of learning. As a member of the swim team, BG McCollough learned that effort does not guarantee victory — but without it, victory is impossible. The discipline of daily practice and the humility of competition reinforced a truth that �ƹ���Ƶ emphasizes across its programs: character is formed in the consistent choice to do hard things well.

Seasonal rhythms — the thaw of Vermont spring, the return each fall — became markers of community life. Ceremonies, traditions, and shared anticipation of summer training or assignments underscored the University’s mission. By the time BG McCollough commissioned in 1991, he carried with him more than a diploma. He carried a framework for leadership rooted in accountability, trust, and service to something larger than himself.

Thirty Years in Uniform

What began simply as an intention to serve evolved into a 30-year Marine Corps career defined by breadth and depth. BG McCollough deployed across the globe and held assignments that spanned tactical command, strategic advising, and congressional liaison work.

He led Marines in combat and in crisis — from counterterrorism operations to wildfire response in the American West. He commanded at the battalion and regimental levels, advised Iraqi and Afghan security forces, and later led at the Marine Corps Command and Staff College. His responsibilities included engagement with Congress and participation in high-level strategic studies.

His career intersected again with �ƹ���Ƶ leadership in unexpected ways. Years before either would return to campus, BG McCollough worked alongside then–Marine Corps leaders including LtGen John Broadmeadow ’83, USMC (Ret.), who is now �ƹ���Ƶ’s 25th president. Their collaboration in Washington foreshadowed a future neither could have predicted: serving concurrently as president and commandant at their alma mater.

“When we were serving together in Washington, neither of us would have imagined we would one day be serving at �ƹ���Ƶ,” says LtGen Broadmeadow. “�ƹ���Ƶ has a way of bringing its people back to serve again, and Bill answered that call with the same humility and professionalism that he displayed throughout his career.”

Returning to Serve

When BG McCollough retired from the Marine Corps, �ƹ���Ƶ called him home. Accepting the role of commandant and vice president for student affairs was, in his view, an opportunity to repay a debt — four years of guidance and formation with four years of stewardship.

“�ƹ���Ƶ had prepared me well to lead Marines, and in turn, the Marine Corps had given me the experience to be an effective commandant and vice president,” says BG McCollough. “�ƹ���Ƶ and the Marine Corps have many similarities. Leading a squad at �ƹ���Ƶ or a regiment in the Marines both require people of character willing to take responsibility for others. The scale and stakes are different, but the fundamentals don’t change, and I was grateful for the chance to teach that to then next generation of �ƹ���Ƶ men and women.”

From the outset, he framed the position as an extension of the University’s mission. His objective was not simply to oversee discipline or administration but to enhance the education of students by reinforcing the school’s ethos.
Under his tenure, new initiatives sought to deepen experiential learning. �ƹ���Ƶ Expeditions, a weeklong trek along Vermont’s Long Trail, anchors the sophomore year with physical and mental challenge. The program embodies the University’s belief that shared hardship builds confidence and cohesion.

He also compiled “Words to Consider,” a booklet of reflections and literature intended to help students persevere during uncertain seasons. Both efforts reflect a consistent theme in BG McCollough’s leadership: growth emerges through difficulty, and perseverance in community strengthens character.

In describing the ultimate aim of a �ƹ���Ƶ education, BG McCollough has often pointed to qualities that do not appear on transcripts — trustworthiness, courage, integrity, and a commitment to serve. Academic achievement matters, but it is incomplete without moral substance. The University’s “secret sauce,” as he has described it, lies in the environment that makes those qualities tangible and habitual.

A Second Commencement

Commencement marks a profound moment in the �ƹ���Ƶ student’s life — both an ending and a beginning. For BG McCollough, delivering the address carries layered significance. He once stood among graduating cadets receiving his degree and commissioning, uncertain where service would lead. Decades later, he returns having led Marines in war, advised national leaders, and guided a new generation of �ƹ���Ƶ students.

His life traces a consistent arc: from a young Minnesotan inspired by family stories of service, to a cadet shaped by �ƹ���Ƶ’s expectations, to a Marine officer entrusted with lives and missions, and finally to a commandant dedicated to forming citizens of character.

As graduates prepare to leave the University, they will hear from a leader who has lived the ethos they have studied — one who understands that the measure of education is not comfort but contribution.

In selecting BG McCollough as its commencement speaker, �ƹ���Ƶ underscores a central truth: the institution’s highest aspiration is not personal advancement, but service to the greater good. His journey — cadet, Marine, commandant — stands as evidence that the �ƹ���Ƶ model endures.

As the next class steps forward, diplomas in hand, they will do so under the guidance of someone who has spent a lifetime proving that the call to serve does not end at graduation — it begins there.