Pardee School Hosts Veterans Day Commemoration
The Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University hosted a November 9, 2018 Veterans Day commemoration sponsored by the Boston University Veterans Association (BUVA) that was attended by 50 BU faculty, staff, and students.
Chris Gaulin, BUVA President and active duty United States Army Captain, made opening remarks and introduced the guest speaker, Douglas Sears, BU Vice President and Director of Military Education (ROTC). In his remarks, Sears expressed his appreciation to veterans and affirmed BU’s support to the ROTC mission and presence on campus. He also discussed some of the major goals of the university.
Senior military representatives, along with cadets and midshipmen, from BU’s Air Force, Army, and Navy/Marine Corps ROTC units attended the commemoration, along with many BU veterans. Pardee School faculty members participating in the event included Prof. Robert Hefner, Prof. Vesko Garcevic, Prof. Joe Wippl, and Prof. John Woodward, the BUVA faculty advisor. The BU Law School was represented by Adam Harmon, the Assistant Director of Alternate and Emerging Careers.
Captain Gaulin announced that BUVA is leading an effort to compile an authoritative list of all Boston University faculty, staff, students, and alumni who made the supreme sacrifice for their country while serving as a member of the US Armed Forces. In keeping with military custom, this undertaking is known as the Gold Star list project as a Gold Star denotes a fallen Service member who died while serving in a time of conflict.
Describing the motivation behind the project, BUVA President Chris Gaulin said “We strongly believe that it is important for BU to have this Gold Star record to remember and honor the sacrifices made by BU colleagues since the time of the university’s founding in 1839.”
Robert Murowchick, the Associate Director of the BU Center for the Study of Asia, is serving as the volunteer research director for this Gold Star List Project. He explained the project goals and discussed the research plan which includes various resources and databases to be investigated. Volunteers are especially welcome to help with online research, archival work, and other duties. If interested, please contact Murowchick at remurow@bu.edu.
Combing through contemporary records, volunteer researchers to date have identified thirty BU colleagues who made the supreme sacrifice in World War I.
BUVA is a BU-recognized organization whose membership includes BU faculty, staff, and students who are veterans of the US and foreign Uniform Services as well as BU students interested in national security issues. For more information, contact Gaulin at cgaulin@bu.edu