By Laura Katauskas | Bugle Staff
sweditor@buglenewspapers.com
@BugleNewspapers
Dedicated to serving its military student population, Lewis University administration recently met a call to further enhance its Veterans Plaza.
While student representatives felt the veterans area was respectful and appropriate, a request to create a distinguished area for family and friends to support the military was answered, explained Roman Ortega, Jr., Lewis University’s director of veterans’ affairs .
The sun shone brightly with wind billowing 30-foot-tall flags as Lewis University dedicated its Veterans Plaza March 29 on its campus in Romeoville. The new plaza features seven flags, including the U.S. Flag and flags of the state of Illinois, the U.S. Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. Located on De La Salle Drive South on the Lewis campus, just north of Mother Teresa Hall, the plaza also features a plaque honoring those who served in World War II. The plaque formerly had been installed in another area of campus and it was requested to be displayed more prominently.
“Now, we have this plaza to honor all U.S. veterans and especially those men and women from Lewis University who served at any time in defense of their nation and in the promotion of global peace,” Brother James Gaffney, FSC, president of Lewis University said at the ceremony.
Lewis University has a sizable military presence dating back to its aviation roots and the training of pilots that served in WWII to more than 500 military students who attend Lewis today, be it on campus, online or sister sites.
“Lewis University’s support of veterans, in many ways like this plaza, led to the University being named the Best for Vets among Colleges and Universities in Illinois and second among private universities in the nation,” said Ortega.
Centered at its core mission, Lewis University is dedicated to helping the underserved with education and supporting the military is part of that mission, said Oretga Jr., who is a veteran himself.
Ortega, a major in the Reserves, said the university works to provide proper education resources for its alumni, a leading group in Will County to do so, developing programs like Bridges to Employment. A group of students also will be traveling to Springfield to speak with area legislators, advocating for veterans this week.s
At the ceremony, Father Dan Torson, CPPS, blessed the plaza along with the plaque.
“We bless this Veterans Plaza so that we remember those that have faithfully served our country, those currently entrusted to uphold our protection, and those who train for future service,” he said. The U.S. Air Force veteran, who is university chaplain and a professor of theology, sprinkled the plaza with Holy Water after reading a Psalm from the Bible.
Anyone can visit the plaza at anytime and it will be used for the university’s official Veteran’s Day ceremony. Ortega said the plaza may be used for future family gatherings and other ceremonies as events arise.