College sets events for Veterans Appreciation Week
Casper College Veterans Services will be hosting three events in honor of Veterans Appreciation Week.
The first event will be the Third Annual Veterans Roll Call Monday, Nov. 11, beginning at 8 a.m. in front of the Union/University building. The National Roll Call, an initiative of Eastern Kentucky University, is a Veteran’s Day event to honor those who have served, are currently serving, and those who have been lost. “The National Roll Call project aims to make Veteran’s Day on every campus a special time of appreciation and reflection,” said Nicholas Whipps, veteran and international student coordinator.
The second event will feature Patrick J. Murphy. Murphy will speak Thursday, Nov. 14, at 7 p.m. in the Wheeler Concert Hall. According to information provided by Murphy, he is America’s first Iraq War veteran elected to the U.S. Congress, who later served as the 32nd under secretary of the Army until January 2017. Murphy is currently the distinguished chair of innovation at the United States Military Academy, a senior fellow at the Association of the U.S. Army, a media executive, and the executive chairman of Work Merk, a professional education platform that bridges the gap between corporations and higher education.
Following 9/11, Murphy immediately volunteered and served two overseas combat deployments — Tuzla, Bosnia, in 2002 and Baghdad, Iraq, in 2003–2004. While serving in Iraq as a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division, he led a Brigade Operational Law Team and earned a Bronze Star for his service. Murphy’s speaking engagement is sponsored by the Board of Cooperative Educational Services.
On Saturday, Nov. 16, the third event will be held. “The Wyoming Veterans Entrepreneurial Training Summit will run from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. and “ … feature a day’s worth of training from some of the best small business experts in the state. It will conclude with a pitch competition for veteran-owned small businesses,” said Whipps. The event is presented by Casper College and will take place in the Wheeler Concert Hall.
All events are free and open to the public, and all venues are located on the Casper College campus. For more information, contact Whipps at 307-268-2510.