Tufts commemorated Veterans Day last week through several events honoring the members of the United States Armed Forces who are part of the university community.
Tufts Alliance Linking Leaders in Education and the Services (ALLIES) hosted Wednesday night a panel discussion in Eaton Hall featuring speakers who had served in the military and are currently studying at Tufts.
The Advocates for Tufts' Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) and the Tufts ROTC Joint Operations on Friday sponsored a Veterans Day ceremony on the Memorial Steps, followed by a reception in Ballou Hall's Coolidge Room.
Friday's event included a flag passing ceremony, followed by an address from Matthew Milley (LA '11), an ROTC cadet and master of ceremonies of the event.
University President Anthony Monaco in his address at the ceremony's reception said that he could not think of any other program at Tufts that better represents the commitment to community and public service.
Keynote Speaker and 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps Elliot Ackerman (LA '03, F '03) stressed the importance of honoring veterans as well as the responsibility of veterans to dedicate their Tufts education to their country.
"This Veterans Day ceremony is one of the reasons why I am so proud to be a Tufts alumnus," he said.
"To whom much is given, much is asked," he added. "A Tufts education was and still is a gift and our students should use it to give back to our country ... To be able to give back using your Tufts education is an amazing and lucky thing."
Ackerman highlighted the strong bonds between members of the armed services.
"Love, not courage, is the emotion that allows us to transcend fear, and that is exactly why our veterans were so good at their jobs," Ackerman noted. "We pause to honor the living bond between veterans here at Tufts and across the country."
University Chaplain David O'Leary expanded on the important place veterans and members of the armed services occupy in the Tufts community.
"Duty, honor in country and freedom are the qualities our veterans fought to preserve, and we must especially remember all the members of the Tufts community who gave their lives for our country," he said.
Dean of Academic Affairs for Arts and Sciences James Glaser, who also spoke at the event, said that Tufts' ROTC program advances Tufts' educational mission and is good for the campus.
"Students who participate in the ROTC bring back their experiences to our campus and we at Tufts want to continue to support these students," Glaser, who has spent time training with ROTC students in Kentucky to gain insight into how the program shapes future leaders, said.
ALLIES, an undergraduate organization under the Institute for Global Leadership devoted to strengthening civilian−military relations and promoting understanding between the two sectors, on Wednesday held a panel discussion designed to foster a dialogue between service members and civilians, according to the group's secretary Philip Ballentine, a sophomore.
"I think that despite Tufts' international relations focus, a lot of people don't really know anything about the military," he said. "Or they know a lot of technical stuff about the military, but they don't know what the military is like and they don't know the practical reality," he said.
U.S. Army Capt. Morgan Lerette, a student at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, emphasized that his life experiences had been parallel to those of many Tufts students until he made the decision to join the military, at which point he veered off the common path.
"We're just like you, we have these same experiences up until we decide to make that commitment or join up due to other reasons," he said. "We started the same way and then we kind of diverged a little ... We had reasons for doing what we decided to do and really came to believe in them," he said.
U.S. Air Force Capt. David Park, a student at The Fletcher School, explained that the education he received in the military was critical in shaping the person he has become.
"The military will train you — you will be surprised by how they will take you with all this conceptual knowledge, and pile on more knowledge — you'll start learning," Park said.
"I think that's a pretty unique aspect in the military — they really know about people and how we function as human beings," he added. "They'll use that positively ... You learn a lot not just about the Air Force and the military and also about life and who you are."
