UIS community celebrates Veterans Day with flag raising ceremony

Students, faculty and staff at the University of Illinois Springfield celebrated Veterans Day on Thursday, November 11, 2010, with a flag raising ceremony in front of the Public Affairs Center.

UIS Veterans Resource Coordinator Cathleen Cassavant came up with the idea for the first of its kind ceremony with help from student service members.

“These people have worked so hard in their life and they need to be recognized,” said Cassavant. “I’m so excited. I want to do it every year.”

Senior Sociology/Anthropology major and President of the Military Veterans Student Organization Rebecca Johnson is a current member of the U.S. Navy reserves and served a 2-year tour of duty in Germany.

“It feels really good to be recognized. Even though we do have to be in school today they are still acknowledging veterans,” said Johnson.

Johnson hopes to raise awareness about the student organization with the help of fellow service members on campus.

Janet Wankum is a senior Business Administration and Management major who was deployed to Bahrain for four years before retiring from the Navy.

“We’re trying to grow. We want more and more students and we want more activities like this,” said Wankum.

For more information about services for veterans at UIS visit the Veterans Affairs website.