Syracuse University took time out this Veterans Day to honor veterans and service members at their annual recognition program. SU traces its strong connection to veterans and the military back to World War I, and especially after World War II when veterans made up about half of the student body. That commitment continues today, and isn’t lost on U.S. Marine Corps Veteran Tony Ruscitto. The native Central New Yorker returned from duty after five years, and says the paths ahead weren’t promising. He had already tried college before joining the military.
“I became a Marine without a mission," Ruscitto said. "For anyone who’s transitioned out of the military or helped someone do so, you know exactly what a dangerous head space and place that is to be. Thankfully, my uncle, a professor of practice at the Whitman School of Management, suggested I try college. It became apparent that college after the Marines was within my grasp, through the support and encouragement that was available for veterans at Syracuse University.”
Ruscitto is now a dual masters candidate at the Whitman School and at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.
Keynote speaker Danelle Barrett is a retired rear admiral with the U.S. Navy who earned her masters from SU in 2004. She noted how increasingly rare it is to know anyone with military experience.
“Roughly one percent of our population serves in the military today," Barrett said. "A lot of people don’t have any connection with the military at all. A lot of our veterans are aging, and so you don’t get exposure to all that they’ve done and contributed. Only about seven percent of the entire population are veterans.”
That’s compared to 18% in 1980. Barrett said there’s no more important time than now to protect and defend the US constitution.
“Unlike in many countries where they swear an allegiance to a leader or a person, we swear an allegiance to the constitution, to a set of values and beliefs that we have that are so strong and that we all carry with us," Barrett said. "It’s a special honor to take that oath, to protect and defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic, and to bear true faith and allegiance to the same.”
She said we may not always agree on how freedoms are expressed, but what matters is protecting that freedom and never taking it for granted.
