April 22, 2022
Indiana War Memorial
Indianapolis, Indiana
Models of Engaged Citizenship: Celebrating Our Graduating IUPUI Veterans
Introduction
It’s a pleasure to be with you this evening to celebrate the remarkable achievements of our IUPUI veterans who are graduating this year.
Would you join me in another round of applause for our graduating veterans?
I also want to add my welcome to friends and family, especially spouses, who have come from near and far to join this celebration.
I would also like to welcome and thank members of the IUPUI Faculty and Staff Veterans Council. It’s great to see you all here this evening
Finally, let me say a word about American Legion Post 360. Also known as University Veterans Post 360, this post held its first meeting on January 15, 2012 and made IUPUI the first university in the United States to have a campus-based American Legion Post. I think that deserves a round of applause.
Success for all IUPUI students is one of our strategic priorities, but the very building where we gather tonight reminds us that we bear a special responsibility toward our student veterans.
IUPUI Interim Chancellor Andrew R. Klein
Responsibility to Our Veterans
It reminds us how much American civilians like me owe to those of you who have sacrificed so much to answer the call of duty. Your service and that of your fellow members of the armed forces—past and present—has secured for the rest of us the advantage of a free and prosperous society.
Even as you have dedicated yourselves to your studies, you are already living the lives of engaged citizens, thanks to your military service. Your leadership in your communities, in our state, and in our nation will decide our shared future, and your education at IUPUI has helped prepare you for this important role.
Space to Succeed
In closing, I would like to say a special word of thanks to retiring IUPUI faculty member Dr. William Foley. I deeply appreciate your outstanding service to our campus and the very impressive experience you have brought to your teaching and research. Thank you for your remarks earlier this evening, and I wish you all the best in retirement.
To our graduates here tonight, once again congratulations on all that you have achieved and please accept my sincere thanks for your service to our country.