WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Eight Pennsylvania College of Technology students have been awarded scholarships recognizing their commitment as Army ROTC cadets.
The cadets were recognized with substantial Army ROTC scholarships during an Oct. 30 contracting ceremony at the college’s Bush Campus Center. Due to COVID-19 precautions, attendance was limited to participants; the event was streamed online for proud well-wishers.
“You are being asked to dedicate yourself to a cause that requires the willingness to make sacrifices of the most personal nature,” Carolyn R. Strickland, vice president for enrollment management and associate provost at Penn College, told them. “This is an indicator to your family, the campus community and your battalion that you are developing into the highly desired leaders that the Army seeks and the world needs.”
The scholarship recipients, their hometowns and majors are: Blake T. Blodgett, McDonald, welding and fabrication engineering technology; Joseph L. Elinski, Wilcox, manufacturing engineering technology; Jesse D. Laird V, Newville, nursing; Anthony J. Marturano, Falls, welding and fabrication engineering technology; Megan Nosker, DuBois, civil engineering technology; Adam T. Roe, Hallstead, construction management; Sam T. Van Dermark, Penn Yan, New York, manufacturing engineering technology; and Jared R. Ward, Manchester, Maryland, manufacturing engineering technology.
In addition to their regular college activities and coursework, ROTC cadets take classes in military science and leadership, meet conditioning requirements through physical training several days a week, and participate in at least one field exercise each semester. Upon their eventual graduation, they will be commissioned as second lieutenants and commit to four years of active duty or eight years in the Army Reserve or National Guard.
“Today, we congratulate you as you take your oaths to become cadets in the Bald Eagle Battalion,” Strickland told the students, “and we wish you well on your journey toward joining the legacy of successful Penn College ROTC graduates who are making us proud as leaders on active duty in the Army, as well as in the National Guard and Reserves.”
Capt. Jeffery A. Hill emceed the proceedings, and Lt. Col. John Acosta offered remarks and administered the oath to the newly contracted cadets. Both are instructors in Bald Eagle Battalion, which also encompasses Lycoming College, as well as Lock Haven (where it is headquartered) and Mansfield universities. For more information, email ROTC@pct.edu.
For more about Penn College, a national leader in applied technology education, visit www.pct.edu, email admissions@pct.edu or call toll-free 800-367-9222.