The Lakeland Veterans Center hosts a special Veterans Day ceremony on campus at 11 a.m., Thursday, Nov. 10, 2022. The ceremony will take place at the Lakeland Veterans Memorial outside the athletic and fitness center (Y-Building) and is open to the public. A short, meaningful ceremony will take place to honor our disabled veterans who have served in our armed forces.

“One of the great things about Lakeland is that the diversity of our veterans exists in many facets like age, gender and experience,” says S. Rhonda Osagie-Erese, manager of the Lakeland Veterans Center. “Paralleled in those facets are our disabled veterans. Often, we see a student veteran without even realizing that they are disabled. Some are obvious but others have invisible scars. This Veterans Day event is dedicated to the disabled veterans who struggle each day to live and thrive. I hope this will help enhance the public’s understanding of the sacrifices of our veterans.”

Following the ceremony, guests are invited to stay for café style lunch and to meet community guests including representatives of Disabled American Veterans (DAV) organization, veteran resource table, and join a raffle benefiting the Lakeland chapter of Student Veterans of America (SVA). Lakeland’s SVA is a nationally ranked chapter, and proceeds from the raffle will help provide resources to continue their record of excellence on the national stage.

By: Adam Continenza, Mktg and Communications Spclst