On Nov. 11, to commemorate Veterans Day, many GW alumni were on the Foggy Bottom campus to attend a dedication ceremony for the renovated and relocated Veterans Memorial Park.
Formerly located by the intersections of 22nd and G Streets NW, Veterans Memorial Park is now in front of the Gelman Library entrance at Kogan Plaza. The move was funded by a gift from GW Board of Trustees member Mark Shenkman, GWSB MBA ’67.
More than 200 attendees from the GW community gathered for the dedication ceremony, reports GW Today.
Many attendees had a personal connection to the park and/or veterans affairs, including Jim Schrote, GW’s executive director of facilities management, who was involved in conceptualizing the new park.
Brian Hawthorne, CCAS BA ’10, GSPM MS ’12, a veteran and former president of the GW Student Veterans, was also in attendance. He was joined by fellow veteran Yumi Cosbert, CCAS BA ’05, veteran and GW Alumni Association (GWAA) board member Karl Boettcher, GWSB BA ’68, BS ’70, MS ’77, and veteran Jarris Taylor, GSEHD MA ’97, EdD ’05, who is the deputy assistant secretary of strategic diversity integration for the United States Air Force.
GWAA President Steven Frenkil, CCAS BA ’74 was also on hand for the ceremony, along with veteran and GWAA board member Alex Dietrich-Greene, SEAS BS ’01 and Jacqueline Byrd, CCAS AA ’83, BS ’84.
During the dedication, associate provost for military and veterans affairs Vice Admiral (retired) Mel Williams Jr. said the park will be a perpetual reminder of the university’s longstanding commitment to those who have served in the US Armed Forces, reports GW Today.
Thank you to all in the GW community who have served! For more details about this ceremony and Veterans Memorial Park, visit GW Today.
