This story originally appeared in the March 2025 Checkpoints magazine.

For decades, the U.S. Air Force Academy has molded young men and women into leaders of character. Though the Academy’s mission remains timeless, its landscape has evolved.

This transformation has been especially noticeable since the Defining Our Future campaign launched in 2018. From the TrueNorth Commons development to class projects, these capital improvements and peer-to-peer initiatives honor the past while building toward an even stronger future.

In 2022, construction officially began on the long-envisioned TrueNorth Commons development just outside the Academy’s North Gate. The development, which includes Hotel Polaris and the future Hosmer Visitor Center, quickly became a Defining Our Future campaign priority.

The Academy’s new visitor center is named in honor of Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Bradley Hosmer ’59 and his spouse, Zita, thanks to a generous gift from Jerry ’70 and Pam Bruni. Gen. Hosmer is the Academy’s first graduate and Rhodes scholar and the first graduate to serve as superintendent.

During the center’s cornerstone dedication ceremony in September 2022, the Brunis expressed their hope that the space would inspire generations of visitors to learn about the Academy’s mission and explore ways to serve.

“Hardly a person who walks around here [the visitor center] won’t be able to find some motivation and some ways to contribute to their communities and to our country,” Jerry Bruni said during the dedication. “That’s one good reason why so many people are working so hard to make the iconic Hosmer Visitor Center and the displays a fantastic and moving visitor experience.”

The Hosmer Visitor Center will replace the current visitor center and serve as an official Colorado State Welcome Center.

A new pedestrian bridge connects the Hosmer Visitor Center to Hotel Polaris, which opened in November 2024 with over 500 attending a ribbon-cutting celebration. Dan Schnepf ’83, founder and president of Matrix Design Group, and Mark Hille ’97, CEO of the Association of Graduates and Air Force Academy Foundation, were among the event speakers. Schnepf is one of the original visionaries of the TrueNorth Commons project.

“I took on this monumental development task to give back to our Air Force Academy and our Colorado Springs community,” said Schnepf. “As a graduate of this fine institution, this was truly a labor of love for me.”

TrueNorth Commons will also include office, retail and restaurant space. The development is a partnership between public and private stakeholders, including the city of Colorado Springs, the Association and Foundation, Blue & Silver Development Partners and Provident Resources Group.

That public-private partnership, made possible by a unique financing structure, will transfer the hotel property to the Association and Foundation once construction costs are paid off.

“Soon, millions of dollars of revenue annually will flow from this project to support the Academy, serve our graduates and preserve our growing heritage,” said Hille during the ribbon cutting.

Gifts from generous donors like Hugh ’64 and Nan Williamson and others have already accelerated the repayment of that debt.

“When I learned the details about the benefit of paying off the most expensive tranche of capital for the hotel early, which would mean reducing the interest by tens of millions of dollars, it just connected all the dots,” says Hugh Williamson, the first USAFA graduate to head a Fortune 500 company. “It will result in the Association and Foundation owning the hotel several years earlier than planned and seeing millions of dollars of profits that can be used in support of the Academy. I’m hoping we will still be around to see that happen.”

In addition to the direct economic impact on the Academy’s mission, Hugh Williamson sees the hotel as a valuable addition to both the Academy and north Colorado Springs. It will serve as a gathering place for graduates and a convenient lodging option for classes hosting reunions.

Nearly two decades after its founding, the Air Force Academy Foundation will soon move into a new headquarters funded by philanthropy. Wecker Hall, named in honor of lead donors Dr. William E. Wecker ’63 and his spouse, the late Mary Linn Wecker, will be a modern facility that unites the Foundation and Association of Graduates under one roof.

“The new Foundation headquarters building will bring the entire staff together so that they can work more effectively and enjoyably in a first-class working environment,” Dr. Wecker says. “We have finally arrived. From a small startup operation with grand ideas and no track record to what the Air Force Academy Foundation is today — hundreds of millions of dollars raised to benefit cadets. And now, a Foundation headquarters building to match that accomplishment.”

Designed as a net-zero building, Wecker Hall will harness sustainable energy through geothermal wells, an exterior shading and louver system and rooftop solar panels, all supporting greater efficiency. It is located west of Doolittle Hall, which will continue to serve as the Long Blue Line’s alumni center and event space.

Yost Plaza, named in honor of Dave ’69 and Jean Yost, is between Wecker and Doolittle halls. In addition to the existing Pegasus statue, the plaza will feature a seven-foot replica of an Air Force Academy ring that will recognize donors whose lifetime contributions have advanced the Academy’s mission.

When Wecker Hall opens in the spring of 2025, nearly 60 employees will work there. The facility will have space to accommodate future growth and house nonprofit partners dedicated to supporting the Academy’s mission.

Throughout the Defining Our Future campaign, graduate classes have honored service and sacrifice by completing several heritage projects across the Academy.

The Academy dedicated the Spirit 03 Memorial on the Honor Court in May 2023. Spearheaded by the Class of 1979, the memorial commemorates classmate Maj. Paul J. “Dream Weaver” Weaver ’79 and his AC-130H crew, who made the ultimate sacrifice during Operation Desert Storm.

“We believe their devotion to duty and selfless service to their fellow warriors should be learned — emulated — by every airman and guardian, especially Air Force Academy graduates,” said Col. (Ret.) Michael Van Hoomissen ’79, class president.

The campaign also saw the addition of two new static displays adjacent to the B-52 near the Academy’s North Gate. The HH-3E Jolly Green Giant display honors combat search-and-rescue crews who risked their lives so “that others may live,” and was championed by Max James ’64, who flew Jolly Greens during the Vietnam War. The Air Warrior Combat Memorial recognizes the history of aerial combat and features a statue of former Commandant of Cadets Brig. Gen. Robin Olds.

In addition, several class reunion projects helped to restore the Air Garden to its original design and laid the groundwork for a Tuskegee Airmen memorial at Davis Airfield.

Defining Our Future allowed many graduate classes to make an indelible mark on the institution they love through transformative class reunion projects.

The Class of 1974 completed the Forevermore Overlook, their 50th reunion project, in 2024 after raising more than $1.1 million. It now provides cadets with a place for reflection and contemplation.

“It’s cool knowing this was donated by the Class of ’74. They’ve been here. They did it. And 50 years later, they are still thinking about cadets,” says 2nd Lt. Alyssa LeCours ’24.

The Class of 1963 rallied behind the state-of-the-art Leader Challenge Tower at the Outdoor Leadership Complex, part of the Center for Character and Leadership Development. After a successful fundraising drive, they joined together in the late summer of 2023 to dedicate the tower in honor of their classmate, Gen. (Ret.) Ronald R. Fogleman, the first USAFA graduate to serve as chief of staff of the Air Force.

From Madera Cyber Innovation Center support to National Character and Leadership Symposium endowments, class giving bolstered the Academy and its mission during the campaign and will continue advancing its mission in the years ahead.