UNC to Honor Veterans, Military-Affiliated Employees, Students on Veterans Day
UNC will hold two ceremonies to honor the military on Veterans Day, Nov. 11.
The first, hosted by the University’s Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps, will begin at 11:11 a.m. with an outdoor ceremony at the Carolina Alumni Memorial in Memory of Those Lost in Military Service.
Veterans Day, formerly Armistice Day, falls on the anniversary of the armistice signing — on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month — by the Allies and the Germans in 1918 that ended World War I.
The Carolina Alumni Memorial in Memory of Those Lost in Military Service was dedicated in April 2007. The memorial’s bronze Book of Names includes pull-out panels listing names of alumni who lost their lives in battle. An online edition of this memorial, launched in July 2010, includes a biographical page for each of the 715 alumni listed, along with a tool to search by conflict. This information was researched by the GAA’s Records Department, which began work on this project in 2002, and assembled and edited by members of the Carolina Alumni Review staff. (Photo by Keith King ’82)
The ceremony occurring at the memorial, on Cameron Avenue between Phillips (120 E. Cameron) and Memorial halls, focuses on honoring veterans and military members. The rain site will be at Gerrard Hall, which is on the opposite side of Memorial Hall from the memorial.
The featured speaker will be retired Maj. Gen. Lawrence L. Wells, who last commanded the 9th Air Force, headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C. Previously, Wells served as the deputy chief of staff for United Nations Command and U.S. Forces Korea, Yongsan Army Garrison, South Korea. His commands included a fighter squadron, operations group, reconnaissance wing and an air expeditionary wing in Southwest Asia.
Immediately following that ceremony, at 12:15 p.m., the University will host its second annual Tar Heel Tribute program to celebrate faculty, students and staff who have served in the Armed Forces. The program will be in Alumni Hall in The Carolina Club at the George Watts Hill Alumni Center on Stadium Drive.
Chancellor Carol L. Folt will be the keynote speaker at The Tar Heel Tribute, which provides an opportunity to thank veterans in the campus community for their service as well as provide a forum for attendees to learn more about the resources the University provides to assist military-affiliated employees and students.
“Veterans Day is a time to reflect on the sacrifices America’s veterans have made here in the United States and around the world,” said Folt. “Honoring their military service is incredibly important, but here at Carolina, we also must do everything we can to help our veterans succeed as they move forward with their education and careers. The Tar Heel Tribute program brings us all together to help build the connections that can matter most.”
Some of the military and veteran resources at Carolina include:
- UNC CORE, a University-led program to accelerate higher education opportunities for North Carolina active-duty military, veterans, National Guard and Reserve members. The system-wide initiative received $1 million of recurring funds to support program development in the 2015-2016 state budget.
- The Student Veteran Assistance Coordinator, a new full-time position in the Office of the Dean of Students who works collaboratively with professionals across the University, state and local communities to help veterans navigate the higher education process and learn about resources specific to veterans.
- UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School’s portfolio of online and on-campus programs empowering military personnel and veterans to leverage leadership, management and relationship skills that help them further their education and advance their career in today’s complex global environment.
- UNC Executive Development, in which senior leaders from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Office of the Secretary of Defense and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs participate in custom programs to accelerate senior leader transitions to new executive leadership roles, conduct strategic planning and train in executive leadership.
- The UNC School of Medicine’s physician assistant master’s degree program designed with input from the Army Special Operations Command team at Fort Bragg. The program’s mission includes recruiting nontraditional students, particularly veterans with medical experience, providing training in underserved areas, and pursuing public-private and public-military partnerships.
- Warrior Scholar Project, a bridge for veterans immersing them in an intensive program of reading and writing that prepares them for university-level coursework. Carolina is one of the 11 host institutions for the intensive, donor-funded “academic boot camp” that has prepared student-veterans to be leaders in the classroom and increased veteran graduation rates.
- The Green Zone Training Program, established to educate faculty and staff about issues facing veterans, including sensitive topics of discussion that may arise in the classroom. Since the program’s inception, more than 150 staff and faculty members have completed training.
- The Veterans Program, being developed by the University’s Office of Human Resources and Equal Opportunity and Compliance Office to offer service and programs for prospective and current employees, aid in recruiting veterans for employment and help develop the careers of veterans at UNC.
