Thursday, Nov 3, 2016
Events include ceremony and special performance of play by alumnus and combat veteran Brian Delate '75
This Veterans Day marks a special kind of homecoming for one of Rider University’s own. Brian Delate '75 returns to Rider to deliver the keynote speech at the University's annual Veterans Day ceremony. Delate served as a combat veteran in the Vietnam War in 1969 and is a decorated non-commissioned officer.
A handful of Delate's memories from Vietnam were captured in photos and painted by his late wife, Karen de Balbian Verster, from 2010-12. During this time, Verster was battling breast and ovarian cancer. She wrote, "Our struggles to survive my cancer and his PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) are intertwined." Her fight ended this past August and in her honor and in honor of veterans, Delate is donating these paintings to Rider University.
As Verster chronicled Delate's Vietnam experience in watercolors, Delate coped with his PTSD through writing, inspiring his play Memorial Day, an intimate portrayal of a veteran suffering from the wounds of war and deals with PTSD and its aftermath.
Delate says, "As I investigated numerous warrior/soldier cultures throughout history, I learned that the restoration of the individual with their community was and is more important than preparation for war."
A special limited engagement of Delate’s play will be performed in the Spitz Theater on Nov. 11 and 12 at 7 p.m. Delate, who has had a diverse career in film, theatre and TV, appearing in The Shawshank Redemption, The Truman Show, and Sex and the City, among others, created the play at the Actors Studio under the mentorship of Ellen Burstyn and Harvey Keitel. "This Veterans Day will be special, and we invite the whole Rider Community to participate in this year's events,” says Thomas Reddington, a former U. S. Marine and current graduate assistant in Rider’s Veterans and Military Affairs Office who is coordinating the events.
The days leading up to Veterans Day will include Rider's traditional preparations along with a special addition. Students, faculty and staff are encouraged to share photos of loved ones who serve or have served in the Armed Forces. Through Nov. 12, pictures can be posted on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram using #RiderVets and tagging @RiderVeterans. These images and stories will be collected and displayed at www.rider.edu/RiderVets.
On Nov. 9 and 10 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., volunteers are encouraged to join Rider military and veteran students as they install thousands of American flags on the Campus Mall in recognition of Veterans Day. Inaugurated in 2013, the flag planting has become an annual tradition at the University, a moving tribute to honor the men and women who have served in the armed forces. All are welcome to lend a hand and show their support at any time on those days.  "Creating this kind of awareness and involvement before the ceremony truly honors veterans and military everywhere, not just on our campus," Reddington says.
The Rider community is invited to join military officials, veterans, students, alumni and other dignitaries to attend the Veterans Day ceremony. This event will be held on Nov. 11 at 11 a.m. at Kaplan Plaza in front of North Hall on the Lawrenceville campus.
In attendance will be the family of 1st Lt. Omar Vázquez. Vázquez graduated from Rider in 2007 with a degree in history and was compelled to enlist in the Army after the events of Sept. 11. Vazquez was killed on April 22, 2011, in southern Iraq. A wreath will be laid in his honor.
Rider University has a rich history of students dedicated to serving our country. In fact, when the University opened its doors in 1865, Civil War veterans comprised most of Rider’s inaugural class. In commemoration, Civil War re-enactors from the 15th New Jersey Volunteer Infantry will serve as the Color Guard during the ceremony.
The ceremony will also feature former U. S. Marine Jeffrey Braaten, an aspiring opera singer who served two tours in Iraq and studied in Westminster Choir College’s intensive CoOPERAtive Program, who will sing the national anthem.
As a military-friendly university, Rider is dedicated to ensuring veterans access to a quality education by bridging the financial gap between their benefits as a veteran and the cost of education. Through the Yellow Ribbon Program, veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces who have served their country for at least three years following 9/11 can earn their bachelor’s, master’s or professional certificate at Rider tuition-free.
Rider also helps veterans develop business plans to explore a venture idea or guide an existing business through its Center for Entrepreneurial Studies’ free, nine-week entrepreneurship program. The Veteran Entrepreneurship Training Program, or VET program, holds classes on Rider’s Lawrenceville campus that are taught by professors from Rider’s College of Business Administration. Rider graduated its third VET program class on July 27, 2016.
Services provided by the Military Affairs Coordinators include assisting students in applying for educational benefits for veterans and veterans' dependents, certifying school attendance to the regional VA office, maintaining individual students’ files, and reporting to regional and state VA offices.