BU Student Veronica Joseph Hooded in Honolulu
Veronica Joseph was unable to attend the BU hooding ceremony. Her forensic anthropology lab at the US Dept. of Defense’s Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency held a surprise hooding for her there, with mother and son Xavier in attendance!
Here’s a brief description from Dr. Denis To, Veronica’s lab manager:
“…We actually had TWO hooding ceremonies, which you can tell from the different venues in the photographs attached. The smaller, indoor venue with Veronica wearing a black gown was a hooding ceremony (held 26 May) conducted within the Laboratory staff only, with all of Veronica’s peers in attendance. It was during that ceremony that I (dressed in my red robes) read out loud to the staff. The second ceremony (held 3 June) was a large ceremony that our agency normally holds every two months to hand out awards and recognize various military achievements of our personnel. Our command staff wanted to recognize Veronica during this larger ceremony, so this one has all the formalities of military personnel. For this second, larger ceremony, Veronica wore my red gown, tam, and hood – as I was not present for this one. For both ceremonies, Veronica was hooded by our Lab Director, Dr. John Byrd.”
Photos are courtesy of the Department of Defense.