For one day each year, military members and Americans around the world pause to honor those who have served in the armed forces and remember the thousands who made the ultimate sacrifice. Notre Dame is no different.
ROTC programs will hold their annual ceremony to commemorate Veterans' Day on Tuesday. The guest speaker at this year's ceremony will be University President Emeritus Father Theodore Hesburgh.
"It's really simple, but it does a good job of bringing to life the sacrifices of those who served before us," said Kevin Conley, Tri-Military Commander and member of Navy ROTC.
The ceremony, which takes place at the Clark Memorial Fountain, ends a 24-hour vigil held at the location.
"The vigil is four people, in half-hour shifts, standing watch for 24 hours," said Conley.
The vigil begins at 4 p.m. today and ends 24 hours later. The ceremony begins Tuesday at 5 p.m.
ROTC members are also awaiting a response to their request to move the Presidential Pass In Review, an annual ROTC ceremony held in the spring, to an outdoor location.
Conley said that ROTC has requested South Quad as the location for this year's ceremony.
"It is a good location for it to be a more visible ceremony. Our cadets work really hard throughout the year, and it's good to draw attention to the work they do," he said.
The Student Senate recently sponsored a petition asking for student body support to relocate the Pass in Review from Loftus to a more prominent, outdoor location.The exact number of signatures gathered on the petition has not been reached, but the amount is considerable according to Pasquerilla West Senator Jana Lamplota.
"We have a large amount of student support. I was surprised ... at how many people were interested in this cause," Lamplota said.
The final decision will be made by Bill Kirk, assistant vice president for Residence Life, and the senators want to use their petition to show student body support for the Pass in Review ceremony.
"We're right now in contact with Bill Kirk's office to set up a meeting and show him the support of the Pass in Review ceremony and support for moving it to an outdoor location to get a greater student body involvement," Lamplota stated.
A date has not been set for Kirk to make his decision, but Lamplota said she believes one will come within the next few weeks.
There is concern that moving the ceremony to a more public venue will trigger increased protests in opposition. However, Conley believes protests should not stop the ceremony from being moved.
"[Protesters] certainly have a right to make their opinions known, but I hope they will do it in a non-disruptive way," he said.