VF cadets open to new female civilian president

Cadets at Valley Forge Military Academy & College have some suggestions for their new president:

"They could put more money into the barracks," said Justin Schaller, a freshman at the college.

"Better food," said Jacob Outland, also a first-year college student.

"A turf field," said 10th grader Eddie Michaels. He plays numerous sports, including soccer, and said the grass isn't great to run on.

A campus-wide meeting to introduce the new leader was not to start until 4 p.m. Wednesday, but a few students had already heard about a new hire.

"All I know is, he's in the Navy," said one student. That rumor was wrong on two counts.

The new president is a woman, and a civilian -- the first female civilian to lead a U.S. military academy, the school says.

Dr. Stacey Sauchuk boasts a strong background in business and education in the Philadelphia area. For the last seven years, she served as a trustee at Eastern University, right down the road from Valley Forge.

When told about Dr. Sauchuk, the cadets were surprised but welcoming.

"It helps on the core side if they understand the military model," said Schaller, 18, of Perkasie. But he noted that the president's job is mostly financial, and "any university is a business."

Michaels, 16, of Ghana, said the president's civilian background won't matter because another administrator, the commandant, oversees military operations. (That position is currently unfilled, but a search is underway.)

Shenika Walker, 19 of Philadelphia, was one of the first students to meet Dr. Sauchuk.

Walker said having a female president could help with one of the school's goals -- to "get more female cadets here, and just more cadets in general."

"I think it'll be interesting for her to interact with a military academy, learning the customs and traditions that we have here while also implementing her own, coming from the business world," said Walker, who serves as the student body's Regimental Adjutant and hopes to study criminal justice and psychology next year at Ball State University in Indiana.

The academy enrolls 264 male students from 7th to 12th grade. Another 192 -- including 19 women -- are enrolled in the two-year college with aspirations of transferring to a four-year university, or active duty.