A Word from the President - Villanova University

Above: Father Donohue and the newly
commissioned officers. Right: Proud parents
and a newly commissioned officer.
ROTC
Naval and Marine ROTC Program Commissions
Midshipmen and Cadets of the Class of 2008
All hands were on deck at
Villanova University on May 17
as the ROTC program commissioned
22 Naval officers and two U.S.
Marine Corps officers in a ceremony in the
Villanova Room of the Connelly Center.
Prior to the ceremony, the midshipmen
and cadets, their families and friends
attended the Commissioning Mass, celebrated
by the Rev. Peter M. Donohue,
O.S.A., ’75 A&S, University president,
in the St. Thomas of Villanova Church.
The invocation was given by Father
Donohue and welcoming remarks were
delivered by Col. Glenn L. Wagner,
commanding officer of the Naval ROTC
Unit and a professor of naval science.
Rear Adm. Mark A. Handley ’81 G.S.,
Civil Engineer Corps deputy commander,
Navy Installations Command and director,
Ashore Readiness Division, Office of
the Chief of Naval Operations (Logistics),
was the commissioning officer. Rear Adm.
Handley graduated from Villanova’s
College of Engineering with a master’s
degree in mechanical engineering in 1981.
Rear Adm. Handley commended the
newly commissioned officers for choosing
to serve their country at a volatile time
in our nation’s history. He assured them
that many other ROTC alumni had
stood in their places in years past,
similarly taking their commissioning
oaths with firm resolve for a future of
military service. He told the young men
and women that their challenges would
be great, but that “Your Villanova
education has prepared you well for the
future, and that your ROTC training has
groomed you to be leaders, and to lead
with a purpose. The men and women
under your command will look up to you
and rely on you with confidence as you
guide them with the integrity and
principles you’ve learned.”
After the speeches, family members
were invited to pin the insignia on their
sons’ and daughters’ uniforms. Immediately
following the ceremony, the
newly commissioned officers gathered for
the traditional first salute and they also
posed for a group picture with Col.
Wagner and Rear Adm. Handley.
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