About the event
About 400 Porter students use education benefits connected to military service, along with dozens of faculty and staff who served. The ceremony is short on purpose. It begins with the flag, then a reading of the names of Porter students and alumni who died in service, then remarks from a student veteran chosen by the Student Veterans Organization. Chancellor Dr. Elaine Vandehey speaks for two minutes, and she has been told it is two.
The Porter Falls Community Band plays, as it has for decades. About a third of its members are Porter students, faculty or staff, and several are veterans themselves.
Schedule
| Time | What | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 10:45 a.m. | Community Band prelude | Memorial Plaza |
| 11:00 a.m. | Posting of the colors; reading of names | Memorial Plaza |
| About 11:15 a.m. | Student veteran remarks; Chancellor’s remarks | Memorial Plaza |
| 11:30 a.m. | Closing; Taps | Memorial Plaza |
| 11:45 a.m.–1:30 p.m. | Open house and chili lunch | Veteran Resource Center, Founders Union 110 |
Location and access
Memorial Plaza is paved and level, with chairs for anyone who needs one and a reserved row for veterans and Gold Star families. If it rains or the wind chill is below 10°F, the ceremony moves to the Founders Union Great Room at the same time, and the decision is posted on campus status by 9 a.m. Classes meet as usual. Instructors have been asked to excuse students who attend.
Registration
No tickets and no registration. Families of students and alumni named in the reading are welcome to ask the Veteran Resource Center about reserved seats.
Contact and related events
The Veteran Resource Center moved this spring to a larger space with a full-time benefits counselor. The April story has the details. Student veterans can ask the center about the Ironclad Veterans Scholarship, priority registration for spring and the peer-mentoring program. The ceremony falls during International Education Week, which schedules nothing against it.
Fictional information
UW–Porter Falls is a work of parody. This ceremony, its speakers, its names and its chili are invented for a fictional university. It is not a real observance, though real ones in your community are worth attending.