Brinegars Lead the Way With Scholarship for ROTC Cadets

ROTC cadet

Retired Brig. Gen. George Brinegar makes his hopes clear for the “Lead the Way” scholarship endowment he and his wife, Christine, created at Tarleton.

“As a 28-year military officer, I learned that a fundamental part of leadership is leading from the front—to encourage, motivate and set the example,” George says.

Learning those lifelong lessons started in 1978 as a Tarleton freshman and ROTC cadet.

“It was in those ROTC classrooms. It was in the laboratories. It was in the field exercises,” he says. “That was really my first awakening to the importance of leadership.”

George spent just one year in Stephenville before heading to Texas A&M to finish his undergraduate degree. He returned to Tarleton about a decade later, earning his master’s degree in science and agriculture.

Now retired from the Army, the Tarleton Distinguished Alumnus has agricultural interests in the Waco area and is the co-owner of a home health care business.

His training, beginning at Tarleton nearly 40 years ago, has led him to believe that true leadership requires people of integrity with a vision for the future.

He and Christine, a fifth-grade teacher, both recognize the value of financial support when it comes to earning a college degree and allowing leaders to blossom.

“We want to help young people as we were helped in the past,” George says. “We’ve made great technological leaps, outstanding discoveries in our intelligence, our databases, etc. What I want to emphasize is the importance of leadership. That’s the one constant of this equation of life in the 21st century.”

The BG Brinegar Family “Lead the Way” Endowed Scholarship was created to help sophomore Corps of Cadets that are seeking a commission in the Armed Forces defray expenses for students in the Tarleton’s Corps of Cadets Residential Living Hall. Full-time students in the Corps of Cadets with a minimum GPA of 2.8, who are not three- and four-year Army or Air Force ROTC scholarship recipients, are eligible to apply.

“Some people invest in the stock market. Some people invest in real estate,” George says. “Christine and I choose to invest in young leaders.”

If you want to make a difference with a planned gift to Tarleton, please contact Janice Horak at 254-968-9857 or jhorak@tarleton.edu.

 

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