Criminal justice freshman Joseph Gianino, center, receives the Battalion Commander’s Ribbon along with his fellow cadets from Lt. Col. Jim Rouse during the ROTC spring awards ceremony on Tuesday evening at Kellogg Center.
The first graduating class from MSU never made it to their graduation. All of them were deployed to fight in the Civil War.
Today, MSU’s ROTC is one of the largest programs in the country, and about 50 cadets within the ROTC were honored Tuesday at the annual Spring Awards ceremony.
At the ceremony, MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon emphasized the importance of education in a military career.
“It is critically important that you bring with you in what you do the values of this university,” Simon said. “It is important that the very smartest people learning the most difficult subjects become leaders.”
Honorees were given various awards based in qualities such as academic merit and leadership. Students received medals, certificates, endowments and, in one case, a sword.
Lt. Col. James Rouse, chairman of MSU’s Department of Military Science and head of the Army ROTC program, said the event was meant to recognize individual students and their accomplishments, something not always stressed in the military.
“In the Army, we’re more interested in collective achievement,” Rouse said. “It’s appropriate to take time and recognize individuals for the things they do.”
One of the cadets honored was prenursing sophomore Teresa Kuyers, who received the Daughters of the American Colonists Award. The award recognized Kuyer’s patriotism as well as academic and leadership achievements.
Kuyers, who joined the ROTC to help pay for school and is considering a career providing medical care to soldiers, said the award made her proud of her achievements.
“It helps me recognize that working hard helps me,” Kuyers said.
Several awards were given in honor of deceased MSU alumni. The 1st Lt. Adam M. Malson Award was given in honor of an MSU student who graduated in 2003 and was Spartan Battalion Commander his senior year. Malson died in 2005 while serving in Iraq. Malson’s parents, Ben and Debra Malson, presented the award to criminal justice junior Joshua Curtis at the ceremony.
The requirements for the award not only were based in academics and merit, but also required that the recipient have a sense of humor, a personality trait of Adam Malson.
“We continue to honor his name and his courageous acts,” Ben Malson said. “I always find it amazing that these students step forward and accomplish what they have accomplished to be a leader of their unit and their battalion.”
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