“Each of you has made a choice to be a part of something bigger than yourselves,” said U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Kevin Vereen, commander of U.S. Army Recruiting Command at Fort Knox, who was the featured speaker. 

Each Army cadet received a commission certificate, then family members or friends pinned bars to the service members’ uniforms. The new second lieutenants also received their first salutes.

UofL’s Army ROTC has commissioned almost 600 officers since the program began in 1982.

The following were commissioned: Brenden Becker, criminal justice; Seth Conte, political science; Annie Garcia, political science; Ethan Center, sports administration; Demetrio Cervantes, occupational leadership and learning; Drew Clements, occupational leadership and learning; Ivanna Duran, health and human performance; William Hahn, occupational leadership and learning; Thomas Kotz Goodenough, occupational leadership and learning; Sawyer Mattingly, marketing; Nicholas Nuccio, finance; Daniel Rees, finance; Jerry Watkins, finance; Jacob Newberry, mechanical engineering; Kevin Orr, interdisciplinary graduate school, political science; and two Bellarmine University students.

Check out the Cardinal Battalion’s for more.

In a separate ceremony, the four Air Force Cadets commissioned were Robert Bieshelt, Gabrielle Cohn, Justin Cooper and Alexander Mindrup.

Second Lt. Samuel Fox of the Cardinal Battalion ROTC became a commissioned officer Dec. 14 in a ceremony at Chao Auditorium.

Fox, an electrical engineering major, is going on to be an active duty soldier serving in the Signal Corps.

One of his highlights at UofL was his participation in River City Rocketry, the Speed School’s award-winning rocket team that competes annually in the NASA Student Launch Initiative. Fox worked on the electrical systems for the payload.

Family, friends, ROTC officers and cadets, faculty members and deans attended the tradition-laden ceremony. Fox’s parents and fiancée pinned gold bars to his uniform signifying his new rank and his sister, also in the Army, gave him his first salute as an officer.

UofL’s Army ROTC has commissioned more than 400 officers during its three-decade history.

According to the Army, the Army ROTC produces more than 5,000 commissioned officers each year, or approximately 70 percent of the officers entering the Army nationwide. Nearly 1,000 college campuses nationwide offer ROTC programs.