Campus activities to focus on veterans, military personnel

McGraw Tower lit green for Veterans Day
Robert Barker/University Photography
The clock in McGraw Tower is lit green to honor veterans.

Cornell will honor veterans and military personnel through an array of activities leading up to and including Veterans Day, Nov. 11. For the first time, Cornell will light McGraw Tower green on Veterans Day, to recognize and honor the service of veteran students, faculty, staff and alumni.

The McGraw Tower lighting is part of the national “Greenlight A Vet” campaign, which asks Americans to change one light in a visible location in their homes or offices to green in a show of support for veterans. University officials say the lighting will become an annual event.

“‘Greenlight A Vet’ aims to build a bridge for veterans and civilians to connect and start a conversation,” said David Outlaw ’17, president of the Cornell Undergraduate Veterans Association. “Cornell will light McGraw Tower green, so even if we can’t always see our veterans, they can always see our support.”

Also on Veterans Day, the Veterans Colleague Network Group and the Cornell Reserve Officers in Training Corps invite all Cornell students, staff, faculty, retirees, spouses and partners to accompany them in a Moving Flag Tribute, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., starting at Ho Plaza. This tour of campus honors all veterans, and active duty and reserve servicemen and women. The goal is to keep moving the flags across campus during those hours. Cornell community members are asked to sign up in advance – individually, with a friend or with a group of people.

Already launched is an Adopt a Soldier Program, which runs through Nov. 11. The Veterans Colleague Network Group has set up boxes at locations across campus to collect donations of snacks, food and personal care items for a deployed soldier and her unit stationed in Afghanistan. The program seeks foot powder, eye drops, baby wipes, lip balm and sunscreen, in travel-size packaging. Preferred foods include: freeze pops, Caribou coffee, Nutter Butter cookies, Reese’s Puff Cereal and Honeycomb cereal.

Collection boxes are located at Humphries Service Building trades area in the basement or the upstairs break room; Balch Hall, first floor, to the right in the breezeway; Barton Hall, second floor, outside the Air Force ROTC Office; 130 Day Hall; 252 Emerson Hall; East Hill Plaza, 337 Pine Tree Road; 120 Maple Ave., kitchen area; and Seneca Place, fifth floor, Suite 500.

The Veterans Colleague Network Group, the Southeast Asia Program, Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies and the Waypoint Foundation are hosting the photographic collection of Glenn Hoover ’68, a Vietnam veteran, through Nov. 30 in the Willard Straight Hall Art Gallery. Hoover will give a presentation Nov. 9 from 3-5 p.m. in the art gallery on the collection and his book, “Innocent Souls: Vietnam 1968,” which portray the living conditions in Vietnam during the war and the lives of the military personnel deployed there.

A new university veteran website has launched at military.cornell.edu with links to information and resources tailored to the needs of active duty personnel and veterans; current and prospective students and employees; and local community members. The website is the result of a collaboration between the Division of Student and Campus Life, the Division of Human Resources and the Office of the Vice Provost, with substantial contributions from staff and students in Cornell’s military community.

For other upcoming activities, see http://vcng.cornell.edu/category/events/.

Media Contact

Melissa Osgood