Kendrick F. Ashton, Jr. will deliver the commencement address to Fork Union Military Academy's Class of 2022 at their graduation ceremony on May 20, 2022. Ashton, an alumnus of FUMA's Class of 1994, is the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of The St. James, a company that develops and operates performance, wellness, and lifestyle brands and venues. The flagship project of the company is The St. James Sports & Wellness Complex located in Springfield, Virginia.
FORK UNION, Va., May 18, 2022 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Fork Union Military Academy announced today that Kendrick F. Ashton, Jr. will be delivering the commencement address to the Class of 2022 at their graduation ceremony. Ashton completed a postgraduate year with the Class of 1994 at Fork Union Military Academy as a member of Coach John Shuman's football team. He went on to the College of William & Mary where he was a multi-year starter and all conference performer at cornerback.
"Attending Fork Union Military Academy and playing for John Shuman were the most transformative experiences of my young life," said Ashton. "I'm incredibly honored and excited to have the opportunity to share some of what I've learned during my time as a cadet and on my journeys since with the extraordinary Class of 2022."
Ashton is the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of The St. James, a company that develops and operates performance, wellness, and lifestyle brands and venues. The flagship project of the company is The St. James Sports & Wellness Complex located in Springfield, Virginia, a tremendous 450,000 square foot indoor sports and fitness complex housing indoor turf football fields, two hockey ice rinks, basketball courts, an Olympic regulation-length competition pool, squash courts, batting cages, climbing walls, golf simulators, and much more, including the region's largest indoor water park.
In just three years and in the midst of a global pandemic, The St. James has become the leading leisure destination in the greater Washington region with more than 2.1 million visits in 2021 and a pace of more than 3.5 million thus far in 2022. As the world emerges from that pandemic, The St. James is poised for even greater growth, opening a 25,000 square foot Performance Club in Reston, Virginia, and expanding into other areas.
Ashton earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the College of William & Mary, his Juris Doctorate from the University of Chicago Law School and his Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He gained legal experience at Cravath, Swaine & Moore and Wachtel, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. He began his career as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs & Company and went on to be a founding member and Managing Director of a boutique financial services firm named Perella Weinberg Partners prior to co-founding The St. James.
Seniors will cross the stage at Fork Union Military Academy to receive their high school diplomas on Friday morning, May 20, 2022, in a commencement ceremony scheduled to begin at 10:30 AM.
All Fork Union Military Academy graduating seniors will have the opportunity to continue their education at college in the fall as the Class of 2021 achieved the Academy's annual goal of 100% college acceptance.
Media Contact
Dan Thompson, Fork Union Military Academy, 434-996-7772, [email protected]
SOURCE Fork Union Military Academy
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