{"id":27640,"date":"2019-08-12T12:00:17","date_gmt":"2019-08-12T17:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/?p=27640"},"modified":"2019-08-12T11:22:50","modified_gmt":"2019-08-12T16:22:50","slug":"senator-marsha-blackburn-visits-apsu-to-congratulate-universitys-military-veteran-summer-graduates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/2019\/08\/12\/senator-marsha-blackburn-visits-apsu-to-congratulate-universitys-military-veteran-summer-graduates\/","title":{"rendered":"Senator Marsha Blackburn visits APSU to congratulate University\u2019s military, veteran summer graduates"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AustinClarksville, TN<\/strong> – On August 7th, 2019, Austin Peay State University (APSU) got a surprise visit from U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn to congratulate the University\u2019s graduating military and veteran students.<\/p>\n

\"U.S.<\/a>

U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn attends Austin Peay State University’s Military and Veteran Graduate Recognition Ceremony. (APSU)<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

That evening, Austin Peay State University hosted its Summer 2019 Military and Veteran Graduate Recognition Ceremony and Coin Presentation, which honors the University\u2019s graduating students who are either veterans, National Guard, reservists or active-duty military personnel.<\/p>\n

APSU President Alisa White welcomed Blackburn to campus and invited her to speak to the graduating students.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an honor to congratulate you on reaching this milestone, and how wonderful that we have Austin Peay and that there are members of the staff and the team here that have been right where you\u2019ve been, and they know what you\u2019ve lived,\u201d Blackburn, a member of the Senate\u2019s Armed Services and Veterans Affairs committees, said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey also know what you will be able to contribute in the days to come. And the fact that there is such a strong military program and a strong military alumni association is something that is truly unique”, stated Senator Blackburn.<\/p>\n

\"Several<\/a>

Several state and local dignitaries attended the event. (APSU)<\/p><\/div>\n

“Austin Peay has worked very hard to make certain they are meeting the needs of not only our men and women in uniform and our veterans, but also their families. You\u2019re joining quite a wonderful group. It is an honor to work on your behalf every single day,\u201c said Senator Blackburn.<\/p>\n

Austin Peay State University is the state\u2019s largest provider of higher education to military-affiliated students, with at least 2,659 enrolled students having a military connection in the fall of 2018. During Wednesday\u2019s ceremony, the University honored 25 students, including three active-duty service members, preparing to graduate, but that is actually a smaller number when compared to APSU\u2019s spring and winter commencement ceremonies.<\/p>\n

[320left]\u201cAugust commencement exercises are smaller, but if only one of you were graduating Friday, every one of these people would still be here,\u201d White said, referring to the crowd of local and state leaders attending Wednesday\u2019s ceremony.<\/p>\n

In addition to Blackburn and her field director, John Clement, attendees included State Rep. Jason Hodges, Tennessee Veterans Affairs Commissioner Courtney Rogers, Deputy Commissioner Tilman Goins, Tennessee Veteran Outreach Coordinator Gregg Crawford, Clarksville Mayor Joe Pitts and his wife, the Rev. Cynthia Pitts, General Sessions Judge Ken Goble, City Councilwoman Stacey Streetman, Montgomery County Commissioner Rashida Leverette, Montgomery County Commissioner Jason Knight, Montgomery County Chief of Staff Kyle Johnson, Montgomery County Veterans Organization Director Andrew Kester, and Jack Turner, civilian aide to the Secretary of the Army.<\/p>\n

\"Dr.<\/a>

Dr. Beatrix Brockman presents an eagle she crafted to Jasmin Linares and retired Brig. Gen. Scott Brower. (APSU)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re always here,\u201d White said. \u201cThey know what a sacrifice you and your family have made already for our country. They also know about the fabulous training you received and the skills you developed during your service to our country. Now, coupled with your education, you\u2019re going to be hitting the ground running if you haven\u2019t already, joining a workforce that needs you.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the ceremony, Dr. Beatrix Brockman, APSU associate professor of German, delivered a special gift to the staff of Austin Peay\u2019s Military Student Center (MSC). Brockman, a gifted artist, presented Jasmin Linares, MSC director, with a large wood eagle, carved from more than 90 pieces of wood. The MSC, which had more than 7,000 visitors last year, assists veterans and military students with the transition to college by serving as a clearinghouse of information. <\/p>\n

[320right]Finally, before each student received a red, white and blue graduation cord and one of the University\u2019s special military coins, retired Brig. Gen. Scott Brower, APSU military adviser in residence, delivered the evening\u2019s keynote address.<\/p>\n

Brower, a U.S. Military Academy graduate and former deputy commanding general of the 101st Airborne Division, said there was a very good reason why the group of active-duty and veteran students seated before him deserved their own special ceremony.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat makes this group different is that when they raised their right hand, they swore to defend this country and our ideals at the risk of their own lives on a daily basis, most likely on foreign soil, far away from their loved ones,\u201d Brower said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what makes this group different. The vast majority of these young men and women, they raised their hand while this nation was at war, and that\u2019s incredibly humbling to me. To say, \u2018here I am, send me,\u2019 when you know that the stakes are so high, I view that as the epitome of selfless service. You should be commended for that. That\u2019s why we here at Austin Peay chose to have a special ceremony for you,\u201d stated Brower.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clarksville, TN – On August 7th, 2019, Austin Peay State University (APSU) got a surprise visit from U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn to congratulate the University\u2019s graduating military and veteran students.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5],"tags":[1463,22711,33896,23,11642,262,10413,512,1759,825,33903,32795,33905,5020,26223,26513,33907,3787,31105,26485,23476,5277,19255,160,2522,2713,33906,29364,15426,9037,33902,33904,14094],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4xGYI-7bO","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27640"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27640"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27640\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27641,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27640\/revisions\/27641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.discoverclarksville.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}