KU News Release

KU ROTC honors new officers at joint commissioning event

LAWRENCE -- Twenty-five University of Kansas graduates and seven graduates of area colleges and universities were honored as newly commissioned officers in the armed forces during ceremonies at 10 a.m. May 21 in the Kansas Union. The Army ROTC coordinated the joint commissioning activities.

Lt. Col. John Basso of KU Army ROTC welcomed the cadets, their families, friends and other guests, including KU Chancellor Robert Hemenway, and introduced the speaker, Army Brig. Gen. Butch Tate of Charlottesville, Va.

Tate received a bachelor's degree in political science from KU and his commission as a second lieutenant through KU Army ROTC in spring 1979. A 1982 graduate of the KU School of Law, he is the Commanding General of the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Legal Center and School in Charlottesville. He also attended the Army Command and General Staff College and the National War College. To recognize his outstanding contributions in both the military and civil service arenas during his career, Brig. Gen. Tate was inducted in 2005 as a member of the KU Army ROTC Jayhawk Battalion Wall of Fame.

Of the 25 KU graduates, two received commissions as part of a special joint ROTC commissioning ceremony held May 17 at the White House in Washington, D.C., for fifty-five students, including one chosen to represent each state, U.S. territory and the District of Columbia. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates administered the oaths of office at the special event that was hosted and attended by President George W. Bush. Army ROTC cadet Michelle Davis, a native of Lester, Iowa, represented Iowa. and Navy midshipman Michelle Dierks, Navy ROTC midshipman of Colorado Springs, Colo., was selected as the Colorado commissionee.

For all others honored at the KU May 21 event, Tate administered the oath of office, and a family member or close friend pinned the lieutenant or ensign rank on the new officers' shoulders. The new officers have completed requirements of KU Air Force, Army and Navy ROTC units or the Marine Corps Platoon Leadership Course.

KU is one of only 50 universities in the nation offering a ROTC program that represents all branches of the military. Besides training KU students, KU's ROTC program also trains cadets at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence; Baker University in Baldwin City, the University of St. Mary in Leavenworth, Washburn University in Topeka and Mid-America Nazarene University in Olathe.

Six Washburn graduates and one St. Mary graduate were commissioned as second lieutenants with the KU graduates. Washburn graduates Corey Mzhickteno and Daniel Einert were commissioned as Air Force second lieutenants and Phillip Amerine, Raymond Hanson, Kimberly Pulis and Christopher McCann were commissioned as Army second lieutenants. Taylor Gillespie, St. Mary graduate, was commissioned an Army second lieutenant.

The newly commissioned KU graduates, their hometowns, degrees and, when available, their parents' names and high schools are listed below.