An induction ceremony for the latest enshrinements into the Yorktown High School Hall of Fame and Inspiration will be held on Friday, May 20 at 7 p.m. at the school.
The new enshrinees will bring the total to 44, following previous rounds in 2004, 2008, 2014 and 2018. Selections are made by a committee consisting of alumni, a former teacher and a student member.
“The fame can be local and national, but the accomplishments should have meaning to the students who walk by the plaques every day,” said committee chair Sara Jane Knight, a retired Yorktown government teacher. “Once again, the committee – which met by Zoom – had challenging choices to make.”
The alumni set to be inducted in the 2022 round (one is a musical group that includes four Yorktown alumni) include:
• Former Arlington County Sheriff Thomas Foust (Class of 1972), who also served as executive director of the National Sheriffs’ Association, director of the D.C. Department of Corrections and chief of staff of the Los Angeles County Probation Department.
• Hubert (Jay) Hoffman III (Class of 1962), CEO of the development firm The Hoffman Co. and active in local, regional and national philanthropic and social-service organizations.
• Torri Huske (Class of 2021), a swimmer who achieved success at levels ranging from local to state to the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics and currently attends Stanford University.
• Mike Leinbach (Class of 1971), space-shuttle launch director at NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center and a veteran of the space agency.
• Tom Liljenquist (Class of 1970), founder and president of the Liljenquist & Beckstead jewelry chain and an accomplished collector of Civil War images.
• Alyson Shontell (Class of 2004), editor-in-chief of Fortune magazine and cofounder and former editor of Business Insider.
• M.J. Stewart (Class of 2014), currently a member of the Houston Texans NFL team and previously a player with the Cleveland Browns and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, having played college football at the University of North Carolina.
• Bob Witeck (Class of 1970), president and founder of Washington, D.C.-based Witeck Communications, launched 1993 and the first LGBTQ-owned business certified by National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.
• SOJA, a reggae recording group comprised of former Yorktown High School students and founded at the school in 1997. Members who attended Yorktown include Jake Hemphill (lead vocals, guitar), Bobby “Lee” Jefferson (bass, vocals), Ryan “Byrd” Berty (drums) and Ken Brownell (percussion).
The Hall of Fame and Inspiration was created in 2004 and includes such notable alumni as broadcaster Katie Couric (Class of 1975), former Google CEO Eric Schmidt (’72), Olympic swimmer Tom Dolan (’93), the late astronaut David Brown (’74) and Hilton Hotels CEO Chris Nassetta (’80).
The upcoming induction ceremony is open to the public.