A virtual Veterans Day ceremony was streamed on YouTube on Wednesday and garnered over 500 views. It was hosted by Tufts ROTC Joint Operations and Advocates for Tufts ROTC.
The event began with a flag-passing ceremony on the memorial steps and included a keynote address by retired four-star U.S. Naval Officer Adm. James Stavridis, former dean of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Dean of the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life Alan Solomont and University President Anthony Monaco also shared remarks.
The ceremony opened with Kyra Link (A’20) and Chloe Malouf’s (A’20) rendition of “The Star-Spangled Banner” during a photo montage of Tufts ROTC students over the years. Midshipman 1st Class Colin Seeley, a senior, introduced the ceremony and initiated the passing of the flag.
“We are gathered here today to honor those who have safeguarded our freedom with their duty, honor and selfless service to our great nation,” Seeley said. “From those who served in the Revolutionary War to those deployed all around the world today, we honor their courage, dedication and sacrifice.”
Howard Schnauber’s poem “My Name is Old Glory” was read as current ROTC students passed the flag up the memorial steps to Solomont, this year’s flag recipient.
Solomont spoke about his service as U.S. ambassador to Spain and Andorra.
“I recall the immense pride I felt during my tour in Spain. Walking into the embassy in Madrid with the Stars and Stripes flying overhead. Feeling a profound sense of responsibility to promote and defend American values around the world,” he said.
Solomont added that citizens must work together to create a more unified community.
“We do recognize both in the long history of the United States and in the recent past, that we have not always been at our best. We have much work to do to create the more perfect union that our founders envisioned, and to build what the late John Lewis called a ‘beloved community,’” he said.
He concluded by stating that civic engagement is a means of honoring service members.
“We honor them when we participate in our democracy, by voting, not only in national elections, like the one we just had, but every year and at every level. We honor them when we stand up against injustice, as millions of Americans have done recently, and throughout our history, fighting for a more equitable world,” Solomont said.
Monaco then expressed his gratitude to Tufts ROTC students, and veterans and spoke about the university’s commitment to them through scholarships and the Resumed Education for Adult Learning program.
“Military service empowers our graduates to share what they learn at Tufts with the wider world,” he said. “Through their service, our graduates help to resolve conflicts and to maintain peace around the globe.”
Stavridis concluded the ceremony with his keynote speech, where he spoke about the example he saw in his father, Col. George Stavridis, who devoted his life to education and the administration of education after leaving the U.S. Armed Forces.
“I watched that, as I was a young officer, and I thought, ‘What a perfect thing for a veteran to do. To have spent this life defending the nation and then come home to be part of educating the nation,’” he said.
Stavridis, who also found his passion for education, said he encourages other veterans to focus their second careers on education.
“I felt, and I feel today, that there is no higher calling than education,” he said. “So as I look at our veterans today in the United States, those who have served in the military, I'm always proudest and happiest when I see them turn to education in their second careers.”
Stavridis said that veterans are in a unique position to teach about the values of sacrifice and service to one’s community.
“I feel that our veterans have a role to play, talking to America about service, about bipartisanship, about a calling that is higher than any individual act, about being part of something greater than yourself, about sacrifice,” Stavridis said. “All of those things are topics we sorely need to address in today's America.”
