Dozens of veterans, families, students and faculty gathered at Northeastern’s Veterans Memorial on Neal F. Finnegan Plaza Nov. 11 to celebrate the contributions of alumni veterans and honor those who lost their lives.
Retired Brig. Gen. John J. Driscoll of the Massachusetts National Guard, a 1989 Northeastern graduate, delivered the keynote address, praising the civilians that came to the ceremony even if they had no military connection.
“The propensity to serve has gone way down and that’s why I thank each and every one here today who doesn’t have anybody in the military,” Driscoll said. “You being here honors that because you remind everybody else in our great republic that our freedom and liberty is not a given nor free.”
Driscoll went on to commend student veterans at Northeastern for their bravery and belief in humanity.
“Our nation continues to need principled women and men of character with courage like the Liberty Battalion cadets, the 600 student veterans here at Northeastern and faculty and our fellow patrons who have taken that vote to defend America,” Driscoll said.
Liberty Battalion trains dozens of cadets from several colleges in the Boston area with Northeastern as the host institution. About 600 student veterans currently receive benefits, including scholarships, from Northeastern, helping student veterans to complete or continue their education.
The gathering also honored the Phi Gamma Pi Alumni Association, or PGPAA, for its contributions to student veterans. Neal Finnegan, chair emeritus of the university’s Board of Trustees and the person who the Veterans Plaza is dedicated to, presented the Joseph H. Hefflon Yellow Ribbon Award which is presented to “a person, group, or organization that has made a significant contribution to the veterans of Northeastern University,” Finnegan said.
“After the sale of a property owned by Phi Gamma Pi, alumni of that fraternity began discussions on how the proceeds would be spent,” Finnegan said. “When offered the chance to create a scholarship that would support student veterans and service members, however, they all quickly agreed. … In the years since, the [PGPAA] has awarded more than $1 million to support the education of our student patriots and even some of their dependents.”
Bill Fontaine, the president of the PGPAA and a 1989 Northeastern graduate, accepted the award on behalf of the organization.
“Phi Gamma Pi has a longstanding tradition of supporting the veterans,” Fontaine said. “They deserve everything they get from Northeastern and the scholarships we give them from [PGPAA].”
The scholarship awarded by the PGPAA is one of several scholarships military service members and veterans have at their disposal at Northeastern.
Spectators said the Veterans Day ceremony holds a lot of significance for them. College of Engineering professor Andrew Gouldstone said he attends the ceremony every year.
“Honestly, Northeastern kind of feels like my home because I’ve worked here for a long time,” Gouldstone said. “I just think it’s really important to just take a moment to recognize people’s sense of duty, people’s sense of loyalty to the country and sacrifice as well too.”
The ceremony was complete with a laying of the wreath by Northeastern School of Law student and Massachusetts Army National Guard member Alexis Hormeku and second-year Northeastern ROTC cadet Sydney Melchiore, honoring all Northeastern University veterans who served the nation.
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