Seven take ROTC oath

Seven cadets were contracted Wednesday during an ROTC and Veterans Day ceremony and luncheon at Lehigh University. 

After a moving introduction by Cadet John Kopperman and a blessing by Colonel Frank Gunter, Colonel John Drago administered the contracting oath to:

David McGriff (Lafayette College), Trina Whiteside (Lehigh), David Sadvary (Lafayette), Ryan Gutshall (DeSales University), Kobe Miller (Lehigh), Michelle Kent (Lehigh) and John Drago (Lehigh). 

Lehigh’s ROTC program, one of the first in the country, began in September 1919 under the direction of President Henry Drinker, who supported the notion of military instruction even before the National Defense Act of 1916 established ROTC. The university initially required all physically qualified students to complete the basic ROTC course to graduate. The program became voluntary in 1961.

Today, the Steel Battalion is consistently rated among the best ROTC programs in the country.

For more photos visit Scenes from South Mountain.

Photos by Christa Neu