The Georgetown Department of Military Science and the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps are sponsoring a Veterans’ Day Ceremony this Friday on Copley lawn. The guest speaker will be Monsignor William O’Donnell (COL ’43, LAW ’53).
Recent tradition (since 1996) dictates that the ROTC and Department of Military Science hold this event, and they have done a fabulous job establishing that tradition. This does not mean, however, that participation in this event should be limited to these two groups. Campus leaders, student groups and all members of the Georgetown community should get more involved in worthwhile productions such as this rather than the various productions on campus that are partisan and politically-charged.
Veterans’ Day is a day of remembrance for the heroes of our wars, a day that should be full of simple ceremony and meditation. We would not know the United States as we do were it not for these men and women. It is refreshing to see such an invitation because as Georgetown students, such events are organized with the bare minimum frequency: once per year.
Unfortunately, the Georgetown community has become largely out of touch with the concept of honoring our veterans, unaware that one day it will be their classmates out on those front lines. Encouraging students to participate in Veterans’ Day events should be a high priority for our administration. Furthermore, events honoring veterans should occur more often and receive more funding than things that show no appreciation for our country.
The real tragedy, however, is that the Georgetown community invests more time in productions such as “The Vagina onologues” or organizing its own “Coming Out Day” celebration. The advertisement, accommodation and publicity given to these events and the amount of time people put into these spectacles vastly outweighs the organization of this simple Veterans’ Day ceremony. Is it too much for these student groups to get involved in something patriotic such as Veteran’s Day?
A further problem is that when groups do hold ceremonies during Veteran’s Day, they are often politically-charged. In 2003, GU Peace Action organized a vigil on Veteran’s Day which at first seemed like a great way to remember the soldiers (“Veteran’s Day Vigil Sparks Emotion,” THE HOYA, Nov. 14, 2003). Such events, however, are clouded in politics as if these groups cannot cast off their political agendas even to show respect for those who have provided them with that right to protest. Students organized GU Peace Action in protest of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, and in their vigil they only remembered soldiers killed in these two wars, obviously showing their political agenda.
This leads to a simple conclusion: the military is underappreciated by a majority of students on our campus. The university needs to make an effort to instill the quality of patriotism in its students. What can be done to remedy this situation? Rather than focusing on partisan issues, how about encouraging students to attend the Veteran’s Day ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on Nov. 11, or perhaps encouraging students to take trips to various museums on the National Mall? Furthermore, campus groups should be required to become involved in venerating our country’s military.
It is depressing that only the ROTC and Department of Military Science wish to organize and sponsor such events. Student groups and a number of university programs should take this great opportunity to go out of their way to thank those who fought to preserve our life in America. Finally, as the invitation states, it is important that we have events “in honor of those Americans who have given their service and their lives in defense of the Nation.”
Michael Birrer is a junior in the College and an assistant opinion editor for THE HOYA.
