Running Head: APPLICATION OF STUDENT DEVELOPMENT THEORY IN PRACTICE 1

Application of Student Development Theory in Practice:

Absolutely American

Randall Cloke

Salem State University

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Absolutely American: Four Years at West Point by David Lipsky (2004) is a work which

follows the Rolling Stones’ writer’s time spent reporting, and recording, the experience of a

number of cadets at the United States Army’s academy in New York. Beyond the typical human

experiences of the many, mostly male cadets which are woven together in the book, Lipsky’s

story telling provides a very in-depth and unique look into the development of these young

adults. Student affairs professionals would be wise to consider Lipsky’s work to help provide

them a better understand of student development—especially as it occurs in these particular

cadets at West Point—to help them better understand the students they serve every day. While

the culture at The Academy is one which is likely not entirely replicated in the institutions in

which they work, practitioners in student affairs could nonetheless utilize the very real instances

of development and developmental need—along with applicable theory—as a test case for their

own studies and work they carry out to serve students every day.

The Case of Don ‘Whitey’ Herzog

Don ‘Whitey’ Herzog always seemed destined to become a cadet at West Point. In high

school, during a meeting with a guidance counselor, he asked the counselor “How do I get into

West Point.” (Lipsky, 2004, p. 4). Though readers miss much of Whitey’s development prior to

meeting him, his self-description of being a straight-A-earning, cross-country-running, drunk-at-

concerts-getting high school student might lead one following him in Absolutely American to

posit that he would be someone with a lot of potential for development. Well, that surely seems

to have held true.

The majority of Whitey’s development occurs in three particular instances: his struggles

to decide whether to join the Infantry after West Point, the loss of someone he had hoped would
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become his significant other, and his difficulty grappling with his own life’s direction after the

death of his best friend.

Infantry or Aviation?

Early on in the book, Whitey says that those who are serious about being in the Army are

the ones who choose Infantry. He says that unlike other areas within the Army, “…in the

Infantry…you know how to sleep in the cold and you know how to kill people. It doesn’t set you

up for success…” for professional life in the civilian world (Lipsky, 2004, p. 4). Despite his

hardened intention to choose and stay infantry, Whitey couldn’t find himself able to truly

commit to it. He struggled with the idea of becoming a near-lifer as an infantryman, and started

to note the skills those in Aviation as ones which he could “sell outside the military.” (Lipsky,

2004, p. 5). He found it difficult to balance the life he wanted outside of the uniform and the

devotion to the uniform.

Ultimately, he found himself in a Porta-Potty at a football game, praying to God so that

He would choose the path that Whitey should take. Hours later, with his friend Iggy, Whitey says

“I’m doing it. I’m going Infantry” (Lipsky, 2004, p. 6). When it came time to ultimately type

those words that would indicate his selection, he found himself unable to do it. Ultimately, as the

reader finds out later, Whitey selected Aviation. He talks about how his infantry uniform had

arrived and how he looked at it and left it out, but never put it on. He would decide to send it

back.

Continued Career Contemplation After Loss

Whitey leaves West Point and is neck deep in the Aviation side of the Army. During first

Christmas back at home, his best friend Mark Matty convinces him to go to a party. Whitey

would prefer the night at a local bar, but relents, saying that he wants to make Mark happy. They
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leave the bar to head to the party, but as they cross the street to Mark’s car, Mark is struck by a

car. Whitey joins Mark in the ambulance that rushes them to the hospital, and Mark tells Whitey

how afraid he is to die. Not long after, Mark would.

This moment would have quite an effect on Whitey. He cared very deeply for his friend,

and in the wake of his death Whitey began to think more and more about what he wanted his life

to be like. Readers would come to learn that Whitey got a tattoo with Mark’s initials—MJM—on

his neck before a deployment. Whitey sought to maintain the memory of his friend by becoming

close to Mark’s mom. He tells Mrs. Matty that he feels like he felt like he’d lost one of his troops

and was unable to protect them. She consoles him, and tells him that “No authority in the world

could have prevented what happened to my son. I’m just so happy you’re the person who there

with him” (Lipsky, 2004, p. 170).

After this, Whitey recognizes his own struggles with Mark’s death. He knows that flying

an aircraft is no easy feat. He remembers a pilot who was wading through marital issues and

crashed his plane. “If people are having trouble and they’re not one hundred percent focused…”

Whitey says, “…they die” (Lipsky, 2004, p. 171). His instructor pilot asks Whitey what is going

on after Whitey puts in a poor flight run, and so Whitey tells him. Knowing how dangerous it can

be for anyone who might be at risk of not being totally focused on the task of flying, he tells

Whitey “…if you’re hurting, you don’t feel like you can fly, you tell me” (Lipsky, 2004, p. 171).

Realizing how much difficulty he is having with Mark’s death, Whitey—no longer at

West Point, surrounded by confidants—finds helps, unexpectedly, in Mark’s mother. During a

phone conversation with her, she stops Whitey and confronts him, seemingly tipped off by just

the sound of his voice. She asks him if he is happy with what he is doing, and he says no, finally
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admitting what he had been struggling with for so long. She tells him that if he is not happy with

what he is doing, then he needs to change his course—his life—and go down a different path.

Whitey, once oscillating between the marketable skills of aviation and the devotion to the

work in the form of the Infantry, settles on neither. Rather, he opts for something that seems

somewhat out of left field: Finance. Mark passed away in December, near Christmas, and this

conversation with Mrs. Matty takes place in May. Reflecting on this period in particular,

Whitey—now heading toward his mid-twenties—admits “This year…has developed me”

(Lipsky, 2004, p. 173).

Relationship Building

One thing that readers might be able to easily remember during the brief time in

Absolutely American where he is at West Point is that he loves women. It is noted that during

their years at West Point that, between he and his roommate’s travels, he had “logged an

anthology of one-night stands up and down the East Coast…” (Lipsky, 2004, p. 41). His exploits,

coupled with his intense desire to be a career Army man in Infantry, means he would be

foregoing the easier path for relationship development that would be available to his peers at

different institutions or those at West Point who know they are destined to their required few

years of commitment before assimilating back into their desired path of civilian life.

Thing’s change, though. Whitey graduates from West Point and is on his way to Alabama

to learn how to operate flying machines. He is spending some of his final few days at home near

Buffalo with friends and family. One night, he is out with his friends at the local bar, when he

notices a girl. He goes through her physical features, her mannerisms as he picks them up, and

notes how she would be worth some extra travel. Later that night, after returning home, he calls

Mark and says “I think I just fell in love” (Lipsky, 2004, p. 79).
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They continue to meet and hang out and date. It is serious enough, in fact, that he takes

Loryn to a hockey game instead of Mark despite how big of a fan of the hometown Sabres he is.

Whitey says to Mark that “I’m convinced I’ll be able to look at Mark when I marry her and say,

‘See, it was OK I took her’” (Lipsky, 2004, p. 91). Whitey soon tells Loryn how in love with her

he is, and she says that if Alabama were not in the picture then she would not be hesitant about

furthering their bond. Whitey, though, continues on. Once an ardent believer in his expected

career as an Army officer, Whitey stops and has an epiphany that he had not experienced before.

For, after meeting Loryn, Whitey thinks “…here’s a woman who would be worth getting out of

the Army for” (Lipsky, 2004, p. 91). A few weeks later, Whitey is packing to head to Alabama.

Despite the intensity of the feelings both he and Loryn have, neither seem to give much pause.

At dinner the night before he is to leave, he asks her whether, simply, she is in or out. She replies

that while she would rather he become a writer, that she is nonetheless going to date a solider—

him.

But, as one might expect, and as the reader learns, thing’s do indeed continue to change

as time passes; alas, development continues. A few weeks later, she was due to visit Whitey in

Alabama. This meeting, however, doesn’t occur. She tells him of a party at her house, and Rich.

She loves Rich, she tells Whitey. He is in complete and total shock, the reader learns, and he

makes it his goal to “…flush Loryn out of his mind” (Lipsky, 2004, p. 118).

This venture proves difficult, though, as, among other things, Whitey’s trips home to

Buffalo remind him of Loryn, and removing her from his consciousness is something that is

more of a challenge than he had likely hoped it would be. He visits his favorite spots, only to be

reminded of her, and the task of forgetting her and moving on is not one that comes easily or

quickly for Whitey. Over time, though, her hold on him does begin to lessen, as he himself
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recalls that “…the recollections are working themselves down to a manageable size” (Lipsky,

2004, p. 170). Readers see that the loss of Loryn pales in comparison to Whitey’s loss of Mark,

and the loss of both spur internal, intrapersonal development in him that he will take with him

beyond the time covered in Absolutely American.

Whitey’s Path of Development

If a student affairs professional reads through the developmental moments described

above, they might be keen to try and apply their knowledge of student development theory to

Whitey’s story. While there are numerous theories which one might be able to apply to Whitey’s

development, the analysis below focuses on one: Baxter Magolda’s theory of Self-Authorship.

Self-Authorship has four stages through which students vacillate and move. The first is

Following Formulas, where, at the phase’s most basic form, the person enmeshed in the stage,

typically a young adult, very much follows the advice or directives of authorities. In this stage,

the person is also keen to gain the approval of others. As such, decisions that one makes is often

determined entirely by the authority or influenced by the relationship that one has with that

authority, from whom one desires their approval (Patton et al., 2013, p. 365).

The second stage, Crossroads, is where one might find Whitey mired in the depths of

Self-Authorship. In this stage, one confronts the expectations and plans that they have set,

whether internally or externally, and decide to forge on a new path (Patton et al., 2013, p. 366).

Whitey, having always been steadfast in his desire to join the Infantry, is unable to easily decide

so when the time comes to choose his area after West Point. Whitey prays to God in the Porta-

Potty, hoping He will make the decision for him. And then, even when his Infantry dress uniform

arrives, he is unable to put it on. Readers see Whitey’s struggle between marketable skills for

civilian life with the commitment he feels that a cadet should make to the Army as a career. He
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never formally questions his commitment to being a career officer, but the very mention of the

dichotomy should be a proverbial red flag to a student affairs professional. Despite his struggles,

Whitey makes the decision that his intended path was not what he would choose, and so he

elected to join Aviation instead of Infantry.

In this decision, Whitey moves from the second stage, Crossroads, to the third, Becoming

the Author of One’s Life. In this stage, one has made a decision and then takes on the challenge

of implementing it into their life and experiencing the decision itself (Patton et al., 2013, p. 367).

What is interesting, however, is that despite this progression, Whitey comes to move from the

third stage back to the first with his relationship with Loryn. For while he had always considered

himself a lifetime officer, he decides that, only weeks after meeting her, Loryn is someone for

whom he would change those plans. To gain her approval, he starts to change his initial plans

about her career choice—which he had decided on not long before on his own accord—and the

external force of their relationship alters his previous autonomy. Not long after, as readers now

know, she falls in love with someone else closer, geographically, than Whitey is to her.

Devastated, Whitey vows to wash her from his memory.

This loss, coupled with Mark’s death put Whitey into an uncertain period of

disillusionment. He struggles to find the focus needed to be a successful pilot, and his friendship

with Mark’s mother prompts Whitey to consider, seemingly unconsciously, his career and life. It

is when she asks him if he is happy that he finally confronts his previous decisions and his

current place at the Crossroads, and in thinking more and considering more, he opts for a new

path in the Army. The one career officer in Infantry, then pilot in Aviation, shifted yet again to

an entirely new area, Finance. And, once again, Whitey shifts from the second stage of Self-

Authorship to the third, Becoming the Author of One’s Life. It is when Whitey considers his
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previous indecisiveness, his first loss of love in Loryn, and then the major loss of his best friend

Mark, that he seems to begin to take hold of his own path of development. He says himself that

the year’s span in which all of these events had occurred had, in fact, developed him.

Whitey’s development through the lens of the theory of Self-Authorship is evident. So

too, though, is the need he exhibits in his indecisiveness between which area of the Army to

choose, how to cope with the loss of Loryn and Mark, and then how to continue onward in a new

direction. He is fortunate to have had support in Mrs. Matty and others, but it might be difficult

for a reader to not consider a student affairs practice which might aid young officers and West

Point cadets like Whitey and many other young men and women whose stories are told in

Absolutely American.

Implementing a Student Affairs Practice

One of the most common developmental areas readers are exposed to in many of the

West Point cadets in Absolutely American is one of an intrapersonal nature. As this area of

development is common in many college students, most higher education institutions provide

services to their students via paid psychiatrists and/or psychologists who help students through

potentially formative moments of intrapersonal development. However, to utilize these types of

services as a West Point cadet, or as an Army officer as these cadets progress in their career, is to

open one’s self up to the potential for one to be vulnerable to being labeled in a negative light by

their peers and superiors, leading to a very real possibility of disruption to the cadet’s or officer’s

professional progress. While West Point does have trained psychologists on staff to assist cadets

and officers with counseling needs, the fallout from seeking such help from can be catastrophic.

The office in which these professionals are housed is known as the Center for Personal
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Development. The cadets, however, have a different name for the place—the “Center for

Personal Destruction” (Lipsky, 2004, p. 75).

As professionals in the field, it is widely known that many college students aged in their

late teens and early twenties are, often, in a position in their college experience to explore their

self. At West Point, though, we know that this particular institution’s environment is not

necessarily as adept at providing the space for their students to discover certain areas of growth

particular to the individual student. As such, there is a need for West Point cadets to be able to do

this for themselves but within the structure and culture specific to West Point itself. A practice

that could be implemented which both fits into the West Point culture and would simultaneously

allow for cadets to consider their own development is one which centers around the

psychological and emotional development of the people whom many of these cadets could face

on the battlefield. Through seminars, workshops, and lectures, one could construct a program

focused entirely on these developmental areas in the context of America’s historical and

contemporary enemies.

Through this, West Point cadets would not only become better soldiers on battlefields or

in situations they will likely encounter one day, but it would also provide them the means to

learn more about their own development. One could coordinate with the counseling professionals

on campus to provide students a space to discuss the developmental processes and stages that

would be discussed during workshops and seminars. In these sessions, students would hopefully

be able to further discuss the people or persons specifically covered in the programming, but also

make their own connections to their own personal development as well. Students could utilize

the time with these professionals to gain better, further insight into the development of the

enemies whom they may face, but also be able to discuss their own development in the context
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of their West Point education. Given that many of America’s contemporary adversaries often

utilize people not much older or younger than the cadets themselves, to be able to provide space

to discuss development during this age range would be beneficial in both the cadets’ formal

education as well as their personal development. The applicability of student development

theory, however, does not apply to just the students to whom this programming would be

available. In fact, one might assert that their role as future officers even more important to

knowing and understanding the theory introduced in this student affairs practice.

One of the things readers might take notice of when reading Absolutely American is that

many of the upper-rung of officers are often involved in continuing education to further their

military careers. One aspect of this continued education is their devotion to molding the men and

women under their command to progress as both people and soldiers, and it is something about

their jobs as Army officers which they take very seriously.

Professionals in the area of student affairs are similarly devoted to the holistic

development of their students as well. Just as practitioners try to implant the idea of being a

lifelong learner into students’ consciousness, so too must student affairs workers take their own

advice, and so professional development and advanced degrees are opportunities in continued

education in which many practitioners take part. In this sense, those who work in student affairs

and officers in the Army should, and do, continue to their education to better serve, understand,

and develop their constituents.

With this in mind, one could implore the officers who command in the battlefield to learn

student development theory so that they could apply it within the framework of the instruction

that they are tasked to carry out to create battlefield-ready soldiers. The programming

highlighted here would not only offer cadets at West Point the opportunity to better understand
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the development of their enemies—as many are not so different than themselves—and

themselves, it would also provide these future officers a better base of knowledge with which

they could better lead their soldiers in the battlefield. This is particularly helpful as most of the

enlisted soldiers whom officers will mold are enlisted by the person’s own choice—very few in

the Army go through a West Point education. Given the potential lack of certain kinds of

education many soldiers may have, along with that many enlisted soldiers are in prime college

student development age, to be an officer and to both know and apply student development

theory only improves their ability to make better soldiers on the battlefield.

Conclusion

In the story of Don ‘Whitey’ Herzog outlined and analyzed above, one can see the clear

development that this once West Point cadet and then Army officer undergoes. What seems to be

missing, perhaps, is the formal space and encouragement for him to both seek help and explore

his self. What is done above is to show that theory not only applies to his story as both a student

and young adult following his graduation, but that the commitment to personal development as

time goes on is not ingrained within him as formally as a student affairs professional might try to

build into their students’ personality. With the practice described above, one might be able to

take the development needs of the students at West Point, combine those with the culture of the

institution and the framework that exists to both further students’ personal development and the

mission of the academy—to make the best soldiers on Earth.

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References

Patton, L.D., Renn, K.A., Guido, F. M., & Quaye, S.J. (2016). Student development in college:

Theory, research, and practice (3rd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Lipsky, David. (2004). Absolutely american: Four years at west point. Boston: Houghton

Mifflin.