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‘A simple, sincere, heartfelt thank you to our veterans’

November 11, 2025

The community gathered this Veterans Day to offer “a simple, sincere, heartfelt thank you” to veterans — pausing together to acknowledge their service and honor their contributions to the country and the College.

Throughout the campus ceremony, speakers connected veterans’ service to the College’s educational mission. General Counsel and Vice President for Human Resources Sarah Delaney Vero noted that veterans’ service also helped make possible an institution “that values and teaches democratic principles that you fought for.” 

Linden Amster ’27 playing taps during the ceremony

Linden Amster ’27 playing taps during the ceremony

President Marc Conner thanked the many students, staff, faculty, retirees, and alumni who came out for the gathering. Veterans Day, he said, is a time to celebrate and honor service and to reaffirm principles of democracy, justice, and freedom that are also “at the heart of our College.” 

The idea was to come together to offer a simple, sincere, heartfelt thank you to our veterans, to acknowledge and honor their service to our country."
Jim Kennelly
Professor of Management and Business Emeritus

For Professor of Management and Business Emeritus Jim Kennelly,  a U.S. Air Force veteran who helped launch the annual event in 2014, military service offered a profound kind of education in the richness and complexity of the United States.

“For me, it was the most formative experience in my life,” he said. “It was the men and women with whom I served — ordinary Americans, widely disparate in their backgrounds, their races, what they believe, their politics. I learned so much about my country from serving with them. They were a microcosm of America … so spending time in the service was my real education.”

Director of Religious and Spiritual Life Parker Diggory invited the community to recognize not only veterans’ sacrifices, but also the diversity of their experiences. She asked those who have served to allow others “to see the broad variety of experiences that you bring from your service” and to hold the community to the promises made when veterans were asked to “put aside self for service.”

Members of the community honor veterans during the campus Veterans Day ceremony.

Members of the community honor veterans during the campus Veterans Day ceremony.

The ceremony also highlighted community members whose service continues to shape daily life on campus. Earl Canale, an environmental service technician and a fourth-generation Marine, laid the wreath during the observance. Seeing the campus turn out on Veterans Day means a great deal, he said. “It’s amazing to see everyone’s support. It brings the country together. We need that. We need more of it.”

The observance concluded with taps, played by Linden Amster ’27, as the crowd stood in silence to honor veterans in the community and beyond. 

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