The mission of the Veterans Day Celebration Committee is to sponsor an annual Veterans Day event on campus at which gratitude, appreciation, and thanks are extended to all veterans who have served in the Armed Forces of the United States. The annual celebration features a keynote speaker, display of the colors, and music.
Mission
History
In spring 2003, a staff member approached Staff Council about the possibility of veterans at IC having the day off. The request filtered to the Benefits Committee, a sub-committee of Staff Council, and committee members Patricia Phelps (Music) and Angela Rogers (Graduate and Professional Studies) offered to look into the possibility of a college-wide recognition of veterans who were also members of the IC community. With the support of Arthur Ostrander, dean of the School of Music (retired), the inaugural Veterans Day Celebration was held. The format of the program has remained essentially the same since 2003.
The following veterans have shared their personal story with the IC community:
- Dusty Bredbenner '50, Willard Daetsch (2003)
- Douglas Armstrong, Timothy Merritt (2004)
- Emma Schutz, Edward T. Green '42 (2005)
- David Juers (2006)
- Rev. James Henery (2007)
- David J. West (2008)
- Captain Larry B. Olsen (2009)
- Daniel L. Weed (2010)
- J. LeBron Rankins (2011)
- Roy L. Barriere (2012)
- Frederick Keener (2013)
- Gerald Hector (2014)
- Larry DeGreif (2015)
- Sean Reid (2016)
At the first celebration in 2003, Charles Tilton, from the Department of Physics and former Captain with the Army Security Agency and the Naval Reserve Security Group, presented Ithaca College with two citation flags and the accompanying documentation of authenticity. One was flown over the United States Capitol Building on August 26, 2003, and the second flag was flown over the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor on August 14, 2003. These flags and citations are currently on loan to the American Legion on Danby Road for display until the College's new A & E Center is built.