Commemorating Veterans Day virtually

Paulina Longoria | THE RIDER

Today, the Military and Veterans Success Center at UTRGV hosted the Virtual Veterans Day Ceremony via Zoom, in which the university community honored those who served the country.

The center “assists students in certifying education benefits, advocating for services, developing projects to unite the university with our local community, providing counseling services specifically for veterans, and promoting student involvement through the Student Veterans of America National Organization,” according to its website. 

The event is part of the center’s Veterans Week Series.

Elda Arriaga, the director of the Military and Veterans Success Center, welcomed attendees to the ceremony and thanked the veterans for their service.

“Today, as we honor our nation’s veterans, we want to acknowledge those that are on the call,” Arriaga said. “Thank you for your service.” 

She also said the center wanted to continue the tradition of honoring veterans during Veterans Day.

“It’s a little different this time, but we wanted to come together virtually and still honor our veterans,” Arriaga said.

She shared her screen to play a series of videos compiled by the UTRGV community with a message to veterans.

The video started with the posting of the colors ceremony completed by the UTRGV Army ROTC Vaquero Battalion.

Then, members of the Civic Engagement Alliance student organization expressed words of gratitude in a video they compiled.

“On this Veterans Day, the Civic Engagement Alliance is honoring our veterans and their courage for serving our country and protecting our freedom with honor and pride,” the message states. “Happy Veterans Day from the Civic Engagement Alliance.”

The UTRGV Counseling Center and Collegiate Recovery Program showed appreciation to the student veterans and military affiliates. 

“I am here to continue to serve our veteran community,” said Richard Clayton, a U.S. Army veteran and clinical therapist in the Counseling Center. “I’m here for us.”

When the video came to an end, Arriaga encouraged veteran attendees to share their experiences.

Edgar Vasquez, Military Veterans Success Center program coordinator, joined the conversation telling attendees he served in the United States Air Force for seven years, but said with the help of organizations on campus that support veterans, he was able to smoothly transition to student life.

“The organizations and the different departments here in UTRGV really helped me, really made my education really simple,” Vasquez said. “Having the ability to make contact with them now and working with them side by side is a great opportunity so I can further assist my brothers and sisters in their academic journey.”

Clayton recognized veterans’ service, but also wanted to acknowledge their families’ support. 

“We get a lot of recognition as veterans, but one thing we missed … is recognizing [that] our friends and family support us,” he said. “Publicly, I’d like to … announce my gratitude for our friends and families that are there to support us. Without them, we would not be as successful as we are.”

Arriaga concluded the Veterans Day Virtual Ceremony by thanking the attendees for joining.

“We hope that this message, the messages that you heard today, provide a little sense of comfort during this time,” she said. “We, here at UTRGV, support our veterans and military-affiliated students.”

The ceremony ended with a YouTube video of Araceli Garza, a music senior, singing “America The Beautiful.”

For more information on other events scheduled during the Veterans Week Series hosted by the Military Veterans Success Center, click here.