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. 7. 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 as well as Paul Narkewich on bagpipes.
The guest speaker for the event will be Timothy C. Fairchild, Vice Commander of the American Legion Post 42 in Towanda, Pennsylvania, and veteran of the United States Air Force. From 1967 to 1971, he served in the USAF as a crew chief and aircraft mechanic, working on the F4 fighter/bomber jet and attaining the rank of Staff Sergeant. He served duty assignments at bases in England, Italy, Libya, and Turkey, among other locations.
After retiring from active military duty, Fairchild worked for E. I. DuPont for 32 years as a technical specialist. At American Legion Post 42, he has served as Chaplain, coordinated the Honor Guard to honor deceased veterans, sponsored a Suicide Prevention Seminar, and established the “Americanism Award” for three local schools. He has also coordinated activities and remembrance ceremonies for Veterans Day and Memorial Day. He is the father of Jessica Hsu, executive assistant to the Dean of the Ithaca College School of Humanities and Sciences.
The student guest speaker will be Vanessa C. Doucette, a Hospital Corpsman (HM1) veteran of the United States Navy and current second-year master’s degree candidate in Speech-Language Pathology in the School of Health Sciences and Human Performance. Doucette enlisted in 2010 and completed Hospital Corpsman “A” school at Naval Station Great Lakes. Over the following 12 years she took part in multiple humanitarian missions and training exercises around the globe, at platforms including hospitals and clinics in remote locations and at sea.
Those assignments shaped Doucette’s love for nursing and human services, and in preparation for civilian life she earned her Licensed Vocational Nurse license as a military applicant. After her honorable discharge in 2022, she earned a B.S. degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders at Northern Arizona University and served a stint as a LVN at ResCare Community Living and the Department of Veterans Affairs Hospital in San Diego, California. Doucette’s interest in the speech-language profession was sparked after working with a speech pathologist who assisted her with vocal projection and confidence to help Doucette overcome her social anxiety.
For more information, visit ithaca.edu/veterans.