Members of the campus and local communities are invited to join in honoring our nation’s veterans at Ithaca College’s annual Veterans Day Celebration on Thursday, Nov. 10. The one-hour program begins at noon in Ford Hall in the James J. Whalen Center for Music. A reception will follow in the McHenry Lobby.
Serving as master of ceremonies will be dean emeritus of music Art Ostrander. The celebration will feature a presentation of the colors by the ROTC Tri-Service Color Guard and music by the Ithaca College Treble Chorale, Brass Quintet, and Trombone Troupe.
The keynote address will be delivered by U.S. Army Major Ari Cohen, a 1998 graduate of the Ithaca College School of Business. Cohen joined the Army in 2005 and was commissioned as an officer the following year. In 2008 he was deployed with the 82nd Airborne Division, 1st Brigade Combat Team, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He subsequently served in a variety of leadership roles with the Civil Information Management Section and earned his doctorate through a program sponsored by the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School.
Cohen took command of Delta Company, 97th Civil Affairs Battalion (Airborne), training and then deploying the company for six months to the U.S Indo-Pacific Command area of operations in support of civil-military, disaster relief, and humanitarian efforts. He currently works in the Pentagon as a member of the Army Talent Management Task Force, developing human capital and talent management policy for the Army’s next decade.
The celebration is sponsored by the Ithaca College Veterans Day Committee and the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance. For more information, visit ithaca.edu/veterans.