JSU’ Veteran’ Day Recognition featured in The Clarion-Ledger – Nov. 11, 2013
The College of Public Service at Jackson State University hosted a Veterans’ Day Recognition Program, honoring JSU students and faculty who are either veterans or on active duty.
Thirty-two veterans in the college’s schools — Health Sciences, Public Policy and Administration, and Social Work — were recognized for their service in the various branches of the military.
Dr. Ricardo Brown, Dean of the College of Public Service, said the recognition program will be an annual event. JSU Provost Dr. James Renick extended greetings and expressed appreciation to the veterans for the rights and privileges citizens enjoy.
Dr. Olga Osby, associate professor and interim director of the SMHART Institute, served as the moderator for the program.
Former councilman and retired U.S. Air Force Maj. Marshand Crisler was the guest speaker. Crisler is also in the Urban and Regional Planning Ph.D. program at JSU.
Crisler said the men and women who died defending their country, along with current veterans and those serving in current conflicts, should always be remembered.
“They are war fighters and nation builders,” Crisler said. “Veterans don’t get enough recognition.”
A number of student veterans attended the event. Retired Capt. TL Chandler, who is pursuing a Ph.D. in social work, spent 21 years in the Army and completed five combat tours.
“I wanted to die in combat because I didn’t know what else to do. I took up a new challenge and enrolled in college so that I can help others ,” Chandler said. “Veterans’ Day should be about the soldiers who didn’t make it.”
Jeremy Armstrong, a Master of Public Policy and Administration student, completed two tours in Afghanstan. As an undergraduate student in the fall of 2011, he was called to active duty. He was appreciative that the university supported him.
“JSU accommodated me by allowing me to finish my courses through independent study. I was allowed to come back mid-semester to complete my studies,” Armstrong said.
Master Sgt. Demetria McDonald has been in the Marine Corps for 20 years and is a student in the Master of Social Work Program. McDonald said the program showed that the College of Public Service “cares about veterans.”
Steve Guyton, Military Academy coordinator, for U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker and U.S. Rep. Gregg Harper, attended the program.
“It is rewarding to me personally to work with JSU and see the university support its young men and women veterans. I have worked with some of the students who are now in JSU’s ROTC Program, who will go on to become officers serving our country,” Guyton said.
Drs. Brown and Leon Chestang, executive director of the School of Social Work, presented certificates to each of the veterans and thanked them for their service to the country.