MC Students, Faculty Travel to Guam for Political Science Study Trip
Spring break study trip offers firsthand insight into Guam’s political significance and cultural diversity.
During Mississippi College’s spring break, several students and two faculty members took a trip to the island of Guam. Billy Morehead, professor of accountancy and director of the Center for Faith, Service, and Ethics, joined Glenn Antizzo, professor in the Department of History and Political Science, to lead the group.
The trip was an extension of the Territorial Politics and National Defense course (PLS 403), taught by Antizzo; students who participated received credit. Two students, Grant McNally and Kye Webb, were also enrolled in International Field Studies in Economics, Defense, and Government (GBU 493), taught by Morehead.
For Morehead, the 2026 trip marked his 35th visit to the U.S. territory. In 2021, he secured a grant for a project that incorporated travel to Guam. Though the grant has since concluded, Morehead continues to lead Guam trips. This year’s trip, which departed on Thursday, March 5, focused on political science.
The group toured U.S. Space Force facilities at Andersen Air Force Base and the base itself. They met with Rear Adm. Brett Mietus, commander of Joint Region Marianas.
Morehead said a planned visit to a naval base was canceled due to rising tensions involving Iran.
“We had a visit scheduled to the naval base, but it was canceled because of the Iran crisis,’ Morehead said. ‘We did get to visit with the admiral in his office and discuss some aspects of what’s going on with the naval defense system.”
The U.S. territory of Guam, a part of the Mariana Islands chain, is a strategic location for the United States military. The island is positioned near key adversaries, such as China and North Korea, and key allies, such as Japan and South Korea, in the region. The MC group visited with the current lieutenant governor and a former governor of the territory. Antizzo said both conversations were productive. “I was able to ask direct questions, without any intermediaries, to the former Republican governor and the current lieutenant governor, who’s a Democrat, and they were very frank in their answers, and nobody was trying to beat around the bush,” Antizzo said. “You felt like you were getting straight answers to straight questions, which was refreshing.”
During their stay, the nine members of the MC party experienced Guam’s rich culture. “I think my favorite aspect of the trip was seeing how many different cultures have influenced the island of Guam, especially in the sense where it’s still a United States territory, so it’s still very American in so many ways, but you also have high populations of Koreans, Japanese, and then the indigenous culture, which is the CHamoru people,” Grant McNally, a junior political science major, said. “So, getting to see how they all come together in terms of festivals, food, architecture, things like that was just really, really cool.”
Transportation to and from the island presented unique challenges. “Guam was 16 time zones away across the International Date Line when we started off; it went down to 15 after Daylight Saving Time,” Ryan Brown, a junior political science and homeland security major, said. There are no direct flights to the island from the continental United States, so the group traveled through South Korea. To travel to Guam, the group drove to Memphis, flew to Salt Lake City, and then flew to South Korea. “The travel getting over [to Guam] was hectic,” Thompson, a senior political science major, said. “The travel getting back was even more hectic.”
On the return trip, the group visited a historically and politically important South Korean location. “We stopped in Korea on the way home and visited the Incheon landing, which is where Gen. Douglas MacArthur, as part of the Korean War, came to liberate South Korea from North Korea,” Morehead said. Upon arriving in Atlanta from South Korea, the group faced delays due to inclement weather conditions. The group ultimately returned to Mississippi on Sunday, March 15.