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HARVARD YARD, 4 June 2008 -- Harvard President Drew Faust spoke at the annual ROTC Commissioning Ceremony in Harvard Yard, re-establishing the tradition of presidential appearances begun by President Lawrence Summers.
President Faust told the ROTC graduates "I celebrate you on this important day... I wish that there were more of you". The president, a historian by training, noted how "Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation guaranteed both freedom and the right to military service". She spoke of the history of universities and the military in advancing equality and participation and said that there was an "inexorable logic of those principles of inclusion". Without giving specifics, she said "These are principles we must continue to honor and strive to extend".
LTC Leo McGonagle, Professor of Military Leadership at MIT and leader of the Army ROTC program for Harvard students, celebrated the students in his remarks as "post 9/11 volunteers who have willingly stepped forward to defend a nation at war", and offered advice on how to be excellent soldiers who are always ready to act.
LT General Tad Oelstrom, USAF (Ret), Director of the National Security Program at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, marked the transition in the lives of the ROTC graduates by telling their parents "Now, let them go" and telling the graduates to "strap in tight" and prepare for some excitement. He spoke of the remarkable transformation of the military in recent years to carry out counter-insurgency and described the challenges ahead and how the graduates would be deeply involved in dealing with them.
Also in attendance was Dr. Curtis L. Gilroy, Director of Accession Policy in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Personnel and Readiness). At the ceremony, members of Advocates for Harvard ROTC and the Harvard ROTC Alumni Fund were thanked for their support of ROTC and the ceremony.
Receiving Army commissions were Second Lieutenants Jason M. Scherer and J. Danielle Williams. Receiving a Navy commissions was Ensign John D. Reed. Receiving Air Force commissions in October will be Second Lieutenants-to-be Michael J. Arth and Roberto A. Guerra. At the reception afterwards they followed tradition and cut the celebratory cake with a sword.
(click photos for more detail)
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