Developing Thoughtful and Effective Communicators Across Every Domain
As a high school student, West Point cadet, and throughout his distinguished military career, MG John Harrison Stokes, Jr., Class of 1918, demonstrated excellence across domains. Now, this legacy will be honored through the Stokes Fellows Program and will serve to educate and inspire cadets for generations to come.
Stokes was a standout athlete and scholar who also won an international writing competition before going on to George Washington University and later USMA, playing three seasons of football at each institution.
Upon his graduation in 1918, he branched Infantry. As his Army career progressed, Stokes continued to perform with distinction in multiple arenas, completing graduate study at MIT and coaching football across Army installations, including at West Point. He served as head coach of the West Coast Army football team from 1930 to 1934. During World War II, Stokes rose swiftly through the ranks, serving in the European theater with the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division in the Normandy Invasion (Omaha Beach) and Battle of the Bulge, among other actions, eventually attaining the rank of Brigadier General.
After the war’s close, Stokes served in a number of high-level posts across Europe before returning to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, where he was promoted to Major General and, finally, held command of the Military District of Washington prior to serving as the Army’s Chief of Military History until the conclusion of his active duty service—exactly 38 years—on November 1, 1956.
To recognize and pay tribute to this lifetime of service and achievement, MG Stokes’s son, COL (R) John H. Stokes III ’57 and his wife, Mary Beth Ziegler-Stokes, have endowed the Academy’s Writing Fellows Program, which will now be known as the Stokes Fellows Program.
COL Stokes chose to support the writing fellows program because he was impressed by the Academy’s vision for the program and how it fit into the overall cadet academic experience. He also expressed his conviction in the importance of the program’s core mission, commenting, “I personally believe the ability to write well and incisively is a skill that enhances all facets of life, but most assuredly in the profession of arms.”
Originally established in 2012, the multidisciplinary Stokes Fellows Program constitutes a rigorous effort to develop thoughtful and effective communicators across every domain at West Point. The program supports cadets and faculty as they research, experiment with, and ultimately contribute to high-level conversations about writing, communication, and critical inquiry.
Cadets selected as Stokes Fellows represent nearly every department at West Point, with majors across the humanities, social sciences, and STEM fields, and demonstrate superior promise as writers and communicators. The Fellows are matched with select faculty from across the Academy in one of the program’s mentorship initiatives. Through these structured mentorships, the cadets work shoulder to shoulder with faculty to elevate writing skills across West Point. Ultimately, the extraordinary skills all Fellows gain in writing and communication enhance their critical thinking and prepare them to excel in their chosen fields.
MG Stokes will also be recognized by the naming of the Stokes Fellows Parlor, currently located in Jefferson Hall but soon moving to Washington Hall.
The Stokes Fellows Program and Stokes Fellows Parlor were formally dedicated on March 6 in the Haig Room, Jefferson Hall. President and CEO of the West Point Association of Graduates, COL (R) Mark Bieger ’91 welcomed guests and introduced Dr. Jason O. Hoppe, Founding Director of the Writing Fellows Program.
“The program will only continue to strengthen in view of COL Stokes’s support, indicating that the endowment has ‘set the stage not only for the next act of the Stokes Fellows Program but for act after act after act in the decades to come.’”
– Jason O. Hoppe, Founding Director of the Writing Fellows Program
Hoppe remarked that from humble beginnings, the Writing Fellows Program has evolved into one of the most rigorous and successful multidisciplinary programs at the Academy, reaching every single academic department and setting a foundational standard.
Stokes Fellows, he noted, are developed as scholars, teachers, and leaders. According to Hoppe, over time Stokes Fellows have held every key leadership position in the Corps, and since 2019 alone, they have won at least 24 postgraduate scholarships, made 54 presentations at juried conferences, and conducted more than 5,000 one-on-one consultations to assist their fellow cadets. Stokes Fellows, Hoppe remarked, are drawn to the program to “push themselves, to aid classmates, and to work toward a clear competitive advantage in their Army careers as skilled, thoughtful writers and communicators.” Hoppe concluded by noting the program will only continue to strengthen in view of COL Stokes’s support, indicating that the endowment has “set the stage not only for the next act of the Stokes Fellows Program but for act after act after act in the decades to come.”
In his remarks, COL Stokes applauded the leaders of the Fellows Program for their dedication, enthusiasm, and vision. He noted that his father was a wonderful writer and set the example for his own service, emphasizing his gratitude at being able to recognize his father with this honor. “I am very pleased to be able to endow this program,” he said,” and it is my honor to be given the opportunity to make it even better than it already is.”
Through the MG John H. Stokes, Jr. ’18 Fellows Program, the Stokes legacy of service and professional excellence will be carried forward and have a lasting impact, developing future-oriented leaders equipped to meet the full spectrum of today’s—and tomorrow’s—communications challenges.
