In his remarks at the ceremony, Sen. Reed confessed to a bit of nostalgia while watching the contracting cadets.

“I took the oath of office with the same words at West Point,” Reed said. “That has been a unifying element in our military throughout our 200-plus of history. The dedication to the constitution, not, as one of our distinguished officers said, to an individual, but to ideas of democracy, of freedom, of equality of justice.”

Reed noted the importance of an academic institution like Brown truly embracing its ties to the U.S. military and supporting students who have served or will serve. With each military branch staffed by volunteers, he said it’s critical to ensure diverse representation from schools across the nation so that the country’s armed forces truly reflect the communities they are charged with protecting.

Reed also talked about how the military needs service members with the skills and talents that emerge through pursuit of a higher education.

“We require cultural ambassadors, role models, mediators and public service experts,” he said. “I saw, particularly as I went through Iraq and Afghanistan, that the role of a soldier, sailor, airman was not just simply kinetic. It was connecting with the population. It was understanding what's going on. Those are the skills that developed at places like Brown University and other great institutions. And that's another reason we need you.”

Earlier in the week, Reed met with many of Brown’s expanding population of military-affiliated students in a private event hosted on campus. For the first time ever, Paxson said she worried about running out of seats to accommodate everyone, given the significant expansion in Brown’s military partnerships and an initiative to double the number of military veterans enrolled as Brown undergraduates by 2024.  “That was a really good problem to have,” Paxson said.

The sheer number of Veterans Day ceremony attendees served as another reminder. Paxson noted the visible changes in the size of the crowd, from “a couple of handfuls” when she came to Brown in 2012, to over 100 in 2021. There are currently 79 student veterans at Brown, including undergraduates, graduates and medical students, in addition to the 36 ROTC members who will serve the country — numbers that are only growing.

“Our commitment to our veterans is translating into very meaningful results,” Paxson said.

She expressed gratitude to student veterans not only for their military service, but also for the ways in which they’ve enriched and inspired the community at Brown.

“It's how they're approaching their time here, who they aspire to be, what they hope to accomplish as students, as professionals and as citizens throughout their lives,” Paxson said. “You are leaders and doers, ambitious and collaborative and driven by the knowledge that your contribution will have an impact in our world.”

As one example, she mentioned Brehan Brady, a Pawtucket, R.I., native who served two tours in Iraq with the U.S. Army, earned an associate’s degree from the Community College of Rhode Island and transferred to Brown where he’s now concentrating in German studies and, soon, history.

Another military-affiliated student — Brown senior Katie Yetter, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who is president of Brown’s Student Veteran Society — reminded the audience that Veterans Day is a time not just to celebrate service, but to call attention to the need to better support veterans who transition to civilian life. She reflected on her own feelings of vulnerability upon leaving the military, and offered a sobering reminder of how transitioning out of the support system the military provides can put veterans in a vulnerable and potentially dangerous position.

“For many, including myself, taking the uniform off for the very last time can be as significant as the day that we took our oath,” Yetter said. “This transition period makes veterans vulnerable to many challenges, including suicide and incarceration.”

Loss of structure and camaraderie found in the military can increase the likelihood of substance use disorders and involvement with the criminal justice system, she noted; and every day, 22 veterans lose their mental health battle on American soil.

“That is one veteran, every 65 minutes,” Yetter said. “That means veterans are coming home, but are not receiving the support they need to fight these internal battles.”

She concluded with a passionate appeal for increased support from the military, corporations, educational institutions and society as a whole for transitioning service members.

“We should never stop listening, never stop caring, and always lend a helping hand to the men and women that sacrificed for our freedom,” Yetter said. “This is why we celebrate Veterans Day.”