From the President’s Desk
After meeting with concerned students in Chicano Latino Studies earlier this month, I provided them with my reflections and a summary of that meeting (PDF). This week I sent them another letter (PDF), following receipt of their response.
Shaping the Future MSU is meeting challenges and maintaining its commitment to values and vision through planning and decision making.
World Grant Ideal President Simon’s call for how universities can meet the challenges inherent in today’s global society.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Spartans honor America’s veterans and service members
This week Americans observe Veterans Day with an unusual level of solemnity. The veterans of the Great War have passed from our annual ceremonies, replaced now by warriors from more current conflicts and daily reminders of the human cost of our liberty.
We’re proud of our campus Reserve Officer Training Corps programs, and those currently serving that walk among us in the near-certain knowledge that soon they will walk on far less welcoming soil. As we dedicate our Spartan community to engagement with the people and problems of today, we salute those whose engagement is already sealed with their oaths.
War has had great impact on Michigan State through the years. Some of us recall the days of the Quonset hut village on the west side of campus that was erected to accommodate legions of GI Bill veterans attending college after World War II. And we too were afflicted when the Vietnam conflict divided generations in sometimes violent domestic strife.
It is to this nation’s most bloody conflict, however, that we trace a share of our own heritage. A stalled drive to establish agricultural colleges throughout the country was bolstered in 1861 when a clause was inserted calling for teaching of military tactics –– and by the secession of some states that had earlier not supported it.
More about Spartans honor America’s veterans and service members
