Nov. 10, 2022
To our veterans, active-duty service members, their family members, and caregivers:
On this Veterans Day I want to thank you all for your service and for all that has entailed for you and your family members. I continue to be grateful to all of you and your loved ones for sacrifices made in service to our country.
I have always admired veterans' and active-duty military members' sense of team over self. The idea of working together toward a collective goal and being able to depend on the team to problem solve is something we want to achieve at CSUCI. Our goal is to foster this sense of interdependence, ensuring that our students, staff, and faculty know that we are here for them. If this idea of building an ever-stronger sense of team commitment and reliability resonates with you, your experience and leadership in the places where you are working and learning at CSUCI are necessary and valuable to our campus community.
Especially in this time of complex and nuanced challenges at home and abroad, our veterans and active-duty service members acutely understand the value of togetherness (or team), the burden of sacrifice, and the honor of service for the greater good. As a community, we too must remember to serve - by not forgetting the costs associated with preserving the democratic ideals and freedoms we enjoy today because of you. Our Veterans Affairs Program, was created to do just that, recognize and support the needs of our veterans and dependents and acknowledge your contributions through awareness, celebration, and reflection.
Most of us can’t imagine what it is like to make the sacrifice of seeing our loved ones accept the call of duty. On this day of reflection, I send my appreciation to all of you and my gratitude for yours and your loved ones' service. Your resilience, courage, and determination are attributes we can all aspire to, and we are fortunate to have you as an inspiration for our entire campus community.
On behalf of CSUCI, thank you for your service.
Sincerely,
Richard Yao, Ph.D.
President