Lehigh Observes Veterans Day

On Thursday, Lehigh honored veterans with a day of events that included a flag -raising ceremony and the 12th annual Veterans Day luncheon.

The luncheon has become a time-honored tradition at the university, but this year’s event in the Clayton University Center was especially significant because it was the first one being held back in person since the start of the pandemic, and the first time a woman served as guest speaker.

The theme was diversity and inclusion, which was fitting as Lehigh celebrates its 50th year of coeducation.

“As I was reflecting on that theme, and at the same time learning more about this fantastic institution, Lehigh University, the quote on the university’s website struck me like a lightning bolt,” said U.S. Army Col. Kandace M. Daffin, commander of the 2nd Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, who addressed the attendees. “It said, ‘A beautiful setting for boundless possibilities,’ and I thought, ‘How apropos, because isn’t that what diversity and inclusion is all about?’”

Daffin enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1991. She was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Adjutant General Corps after graduating from the United States Military Academy in West Point, NY, in 1998. During her 26 years in the Army, she served in various locations around the world.

In her current role, Daffin oversees 42 senior and 113 junior ROTC programs across nine states in the Northeastern U.S. as well as in Italy and Germany.

Grace Lee ’23, a cadet with the Steel Battalion Army ROTC and President of the Armed Forces Support Club, talked about Lehigh’s strong military history.

The Steel Battalion Army ROTC program has its headquarters on campus. With its official inception in 1919, the Battalion is one of the three oldest ROTC programs in the United States, but Lehigh’s military tradition goes back even further.

Before the start of WWI in 1913, Lehigh’s then-President Henry Sturgis Drinker arranged for students to attend the first Summer Military Training Camp for Civilians in nearby Gettysburg and Plattsburgh, N.Y.

In 1918, Lehigh assisted in preparing troops for the war by having engineering faculty train mechanics and technicians. That same year, the Student Army Training Corps or SATC was established and made mandatory for all able-bodied students 18 and older.

The Steel Battalion eventually replaced SATC, but two years of military training remained mandatory for all students until 1962, less than a decade before Lehigh’s admission of undergraduate women. In 1971 Lehigh accepted the first undergraduate class of 169 women, and two years later they were welcomed into the Steel Battalion.

“In the 50 years the followed, women at Lehigh have graduated in masses as undergraduates and graduates and commissioned army officers,” Lee said.

Today, 46% of Lehigh’s student body is female with graduates breaking barriers in the civilian and military worlds as they enter highly competitive industries and branch into combat arms specialties, she said.

Other events Thursday included a morning flag-raising ceremony where a cannon was fired and bagpipes were played. At the end of the day, a panel discussion highlighting diversity and inclusion was planned at Neville Hall.