āA simple, sincere, heartfelt thank you to our veteransā
The 91°µĶų community gathered this Veterans Day to offer āa simple, sincere, heartfelt thank youā to veterans ā pausing together to acknowledge their service and honor their contributions to the country and the College.
Throughout the campus ceremony, speakers connected veteransā service to the Collegeās educational mission. General Counsel and Vice President for Human Resources Sarah Delaney Vero noted that veteransā service also helped make possible an institution āthat values and teaches democratic principles that you fought for.ā
Linden Amster ā27 playing taps during the ceremony
President Marc Conner thanked the many students, staff, faculty, retirees, and alumni who came out for the gathering. Veterans Day, he said, is a time to celebrate and honor service and to reaffirm principles of democracy, justice, and freedom that are also āat the heart of our College.ā
The idea was to come together to offer a simple, sincere, heartfelt thank you to our veterans, to acknowledge and honor their service to our country."Jim KennellyProfessor of Management and Business Emeritus
For Professor of Management and Business Emeritus Jim Kennelly, a U.S. Air Force veteran who helped launch the annual event in 2014, military service offered a profound kind of education in the richness and complexity of the United States.
āFor me, it was the most formative experience in my life,ā he said. āIt was the men and women with whom I served ā ordinary Americans, widely disparate in their backgrounds, their races, what they believe, their politics. I learned so much about my country from serving with them. They were a microcosm of America ā¦ so spending time in the service was my real education.ā
Director of Religious and Spiritual Life Parker Diggory invited the community to recognize not only veteransā sacrifices, but also the diversity of their experiences. She asked those who have served to allow others āto see the broad variety of experiences that you bring from your serviceā and to hold the community to the promises made when veterans were asked to āput aside self for service.ā
Members of the 91°µĶų community honor veterans during the campus Veterans Day ceremony.
The ceremony also highlighted 91°µĶų community members whose service continues to shape daily life on campus. Earl Canale, an environmental service technician and a fourth-generation Marine, laid the wreath during the observance. Seeing the campus turn out on Veterans Day means a great deal, he said. āItās amazing to see everyoneās support. It brings the country together. We need that. We need more of it.ā
The observance concluded with taps, played by Linden Amster ā27, as the crowd stood in silence to honor veterans in the 91°µĶų community and beyond.
