Celebrating our community’s heroes on Veteran’s Day
Izzy Gimm - Website and Social Media Manager
On Friday, November 10th, the James and Sybil Stockdale Fellows Program invited the public to join them for their annual Veteran’s Day Commemoration ceremony. The James and Sybil Stockdale Program is a selective and prestigious scholarship, leadership, service, and enrichment organization unique to Monmouth College. Members of the program have access to leadership and service opportunities to build their resumes and experiences before graduating college. The program is led by Marnie Steach, Director of the Wackerle Center for Career, Leadership and Fellowships and Associate Director of Student Success, and Izzy Gimm, Lead Stockdale Fellows Program Mentor. The ceremony was held in the Veteran’s Memorial Great Room on the second floor of the Center for Science and Business. This year, junior Izzy Gimm (Liberty, IL), emceed the program. Senior Corey Pevitz (Naperville, IL) provided the invocation, and senior Luis Castillo (Chicago, IL) introduced the featured speaker.
“The program was awesome in being able to understand the rich history of the armed forces at Monmouth College, especially that 4 alums have received the Medal of Honor. The event was a great honor to speak in front of everyone and introduce our guest speaker,” said Castillo. This year’s featured speaker was Chief Joe Switzer of the Monmouth Police Department. Chief Switzer has more than 20 years of active military service between the Army and National Guard, and has served the Monmouth community for nearly 30 years with the police department. Chief Switzer provided a statement on his past experiences serving for the United States Military and about what being a Veteran means to him. The Monmouth College Marching Band, led by Justin Sweringer, performed a variety of songs for the program. Monmouth College holds this ceremony every year to commemorate our Veterans and their service to the United States of America.