KU News Release

May 16, 2007
Contact: Lauren Beatty, University Relations, (785) 864-8856.

Graduation stories: Two KU women to be commissioned as officers at White House

LAWRENCE — Two University of Kansas students have been chosen to participate in a joint commissioning ceremony for Reserve Officers Training Corps graduates in Washington, D.C.

Michelle Davis, an Army ROTC cadet, and Michele Dierks, a Navy ROTC midshipman, will become military officers on Thursday, May 17. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates will issue the oath of office, and President Bush will host and attend the ceremony.

Fifty-five students, one from each state, U.S. territory and the District of Columbia, were selected for the special commissioning. Davis, a native of Lester, Iowa, will represent Iowa. Dierks, from Colorado Springs, Colo., will represent Kansas.

The commissioning takes place just a few days before both women will participate in another ritual — walking down the hill at KU’s commencement.

Davis will graduate May 20 with a master’s degree in business administration. She said she “jumped for joy” when she heard she was chosen for the commissioning at the White House.

“This is the biggest honor you can have,” she said.

Davis has been in the Army for nine years. She joined after graduating from Wayne State College in Nebraska with a degree in criminal justice. She wasn’t sure what she wanted to do with her life — then she met an Army recruiter.

“My plan was not to stay in the military,” Davis said. “But two years into it, I was hooked. I love my job.”

Davis loved traveling around the world with the Army, but she also wanted to go back to school to earn a master’s degree. She was accepted into the Army’s Green to Gold program, which allows soldiers to earn degrees while remaining on active duty, but she needed to find a school that would work around her tight schedule.

Davis said she contacted several universities in the Midwest for help. She had only two months to get her military clearances and application materials together, a process that normally takes half a year. Davis said KU’s School of Business was the only one that agreed to make special arrangements.

That was two years ago. Now, Davis has completed her master’s and will be commissioned as a distinguished military graduate, an honor given to the top 20 percent of graduating cadets.

“We are quite proud of Ms. Davis and all her accomplishments,” said Maj. John Clark of KU’s Army ROTC program. “Her achievements as a cadet and scholar represent the highest standards that KU strives to achieve.”

Davis’ next station will be in Fort Hood, Texas, where she will combine her business degree and military training as a finance officer. Only 25 graduating cadets nationwide are selected for the Finance Corps each year. She is the daughter of Robert Baatz of Lester, Iowa, and Rhonda Anderson of Hospers, Iowa. She is a graduate of West Lyon High School in Inwood, Iowa, and is married to Brian Davis, who works for the U.S. Department of State.

Dierks is completing a bachelor’s degree in exercise science. Like Davis, Dierks was stunned when she heard the news she was chosen for the special commissioning.

She said her commanding officer called her into his office and told her she would not be commissioned May 21 at KU.

“It scared me to death,” Dierks said.

But then he quickly told her the reason she was being excluded from KU’s ceremony: she would be commissioned in Washington instead.

“I can’t even explain how I felt,” she said. “My jaw dropped.”

Dierks is the daughter of Stephen and Barbara Dierks. At Rampart High School in Colorado Springs, she was a lacrosse player and an honors student. She received a four-year ROTC scholarship to attend KU, where this year she is battalion commanding officer for her unit. She also taught exercise classes at KU and worked at Lawrence Memorial Hospital, leading an exercise program for senior citizens.

“I am proud that one of our midshipmen, Michele Dierks, the current KU Navy battalion commanding officer, was selected to be commissioned by the president at the White House,” said Capt. Thomas E. Arnold of KU’s Naval ROTC.

Dierks’ next station is Pensacola, Fla., where she will attend flight school.

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