The U.S. Army Cadet Command announced this week that the University of Vermont is one of eight winners of the MacArthur Awards for the school year 2017-2018. The award recognizes the eight schools, selected from among the 275 senior Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) units nationwide, as the top programs in the country.



The awards, presented by Cadet Command and the Gen. Douglas MacArthur Foundation, recognize the ideals of "duty, honor and country" as advocated by MacArthur.

The award is based on a combination of the achievement of the school's commissioning mission, its cadets' performance and standing on the command's National Order of Merit List and its cadet retention rate.



Cadet Command and the MacArthur Foundation have given the awards each year since 1989.


The 2017-2018 awardees of the General Douglas MacArthur Award, selected by their brigade commanders as the top performing program, are:



• Virginia Military Institute, which represents Cadet Command's 1st Brigade.
• University of Vermont, which represents 2nd Brigade.
• Saint John's University, which represents 3rd Brigade.
• University of Virginia, which represents 4th Brigade.
• University of Texas at Austin, which represents 5th Brigade.
• Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, which represents 6th Brigade.
• Ohio State University, which represents 7th Brigade.
• Pacific Lutheran University, which represents for 8th Brigade.