CAPT Mark Black, USN (Ret.), the President of Fork Union Military Academy, announced this week that the school is initiating a national search to fill the role of the Academy's top development officer as COL Tripp Billingsley, the school's longtime Director of Advancement will be retiring at the end of the school year on June 30, 2024.

"It will take an extraordinary effort to identify the right candidate to lead our development efforts and steward our relationships with our alumni, benefactors, and FUMA family moving forward," stated CAPT Black, "because someone as extraordinary as Tripp Billingsley cannot easily be replaced. Tripp's talents and vast institutional knowledge have served the Academy well throughout the past four decades and we are forever grateful for his leadership, particularly with the recent celebration of the Academy’s 125th anniversary, and for the sterling example he has set."

The Billingsley family history at Fork Union began with Joseph A. Billingsley, Sr., who graduated in the Class of 1909 when the school was still officially named Fork Union Academy. Joseph A. Billingsley, Jr. attended in 1935 and 1936, playing postgraduate baseball for Coach Rosie Thomas. Tripp Billingsley (Joseph A. Billingsley, III) first arrived at Fork Union Military Academy as a postgraduate football player in the Class of 1977, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather before him. His brother, Jack, arrived to play postgraduate basketball for Coach Fletcher Arritt in the Class of 1979. Tripp's nephew, Jack's son Joseph B. Billingsley, is currently at Fork Union playing postgraduate basketball for Coach Bob Williams, continuing the Billingsley legacy.

Tripp Billingsley went on from Fork Union to play college football at Randolph Macon and then embarked on a coaching career as a graduate assistant coach at Ohio State University. Following coaching stints at the University of Virginia, Kent State University, and Mercyhurst University, he returned to Fork Union in August 1990 at the invitation of COL Red Pulliam to assist Coach John Shuman with the postgraduate football team and to serve as a TAC Officer in the Commandant's Department. Following a brief return to coaching college football at the University of Richmond in 2010, Billingsley was named Fork Union's Director of Admissions in 2011 and then shifted into the role of Director of Advancement, overseeing the Academy's development efforts, and guiding the school through the celebration of its 125th year since the school's founding in October 1898.

"I came to Fork Union Military Academy in the late summer of 1976 as a walk-on member of the Varsity football team," stated Billingsley, "and that single decision has had an impact on everything that has happened to me since. As a young man I received the training and education that provided a chance to attend college as a student-athlete, as a soon-to-be college graduate and new coach I received invaluable career advice, and as an adult I received the opportunity to have a career. The majority of that career has been spent working with cadets, and that has been the privilege of a lifetime. I am proud that the men and women of our Academy provide the same support and guidance to our current cadets that had such an impact on my life."

As Tripp Billingsley prepares for his retirement, he is not going to slow down---he is committed to finishing strong to help fulfill the vision of generous donors to support the Academy through the 125 for the 125th Campaign, such as by raising the rest of the funds required to capture the full donor match so as to fully endow the Command Sergeant Major Glenn Sidwell Endowed Leadership Scholarship. This prestigious scholarship, established by former cadet Peter W. Congdon and his family in honor of Billingsley's longtime colleague in the Commandant's Department, will provide crucial tuition support for returning members of the Corps of Cadets who exemplify a profound commitment to the art and science of servant-style leadership, a core value taught at the Academy.

Growing the Academy's total endowment to a size that can sustain the Academy in perpetuity is one of the biggest tasks facing the historic school, and the Sidwell endowed scholarship fund is one piece of that total. COL Billingsley is hopeful that donors will help him declare the full funding of this scholarship fund "mission accomplished" by June 30, 2024.

Stated Billingsley, "Our Academy has a wonderful past, which I am proud to be a part of, and an even better future, which I look forward to following and supporting."