Akron Army ROTC Celebrates 101st Year with New Alumni Lecture Series
The new series, titled “Army ROTC Legacy of Leadership Lecture Series” is set to begin on Oct. 16.
(Image via The University of Akron)
The Akron Army ROTC provides scholarships to students in the program no matter what their degree is.
October 8, 2019
To mark its 101st year on The University of Akron Campus, the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps is launching a new alumni lecture series.
This new series titled the “Army ROTC Legacy of Leadership Lecture Series” was created in cooperation with several alumni from the program as a way to acknowledge those who have graduated from the program.
According to a UA press release, the series is set to begin on Oct. 16 from noon to 1 p.m. in Olin Hall, room 124, with “Prison Isn’t the Answer: Criminal Justice Reform and the Role of Community Based Corrections” by Anne Connel-Freund.
This lecture is free and open to the public.
However, if full class secJtions are planning to attend the lecture, they are encouraged to contact Tammy Dixon, an administrative assistant in the department of Military Science and Leadership, by email or at 330-972-7455.
Dixon believes students should attend the lecture as Connell-Freund was not only an undergraduate student from UA, but also is a great example of what students can accomplish after graduation, no matter what degree they choose.
Alumnus Connell-Freund ’77 is the subject of this Akron Beacon Journal article that features her accomplishments as Akron ROTC’s first female graduate and the program’s first female commander of cadets.
“As the first woman to commission through UA’s Army ROTC program, [Connell-Freund] was amongst the first to prove that women can successfully play vital roles as Army officers,” Dixon said.
With a B.S. in law enforcement and graduate of the UA Army ROTC program in 1977, Connell-Freund also earned a M.S. in education before serving on active duty for 11 years and in Military Intelligence for the Army Reserve.
In a previous UA press release about the centennial celebration of the program, Connell-Freund said students thinking about joining the UA Army ROTC should join without hesitation because of all the leadership skills it teaches.
“Joining ROTC taught me leadership skills that have been so valuable to me in all the things that I have been involved in my life,” Connell-Freund said. “The Army has also left me with lifetime friends.”
