Clemson University student veterans graduating in May and August 2021 were honored Wednesday evening in a special “Hail and Farewell” ceremony at Palmetto Ridge Event Center in Seneca, South Carolina. Students were presented red, white and blue cords to place over their graduation gear. The graduates also received a letter from President Jim Clements and a special challenge coin featuring the insignia of the military branches.
Peyton Bade, graduate assistant for Military and Veteran Engagement, served as emcee for the two-hour ceremony. The graduates were joined by their families and representatives from Clemson Corps, Student Affairs, Undergraduate Studies and the Graduate School.
The event featured a keynote address from Dr. Leslie Lewis, who comes from a long line of service members. She was an active duty military intelligence officer toward the end of the Cold War and later an Army wife for 12 years. Lewis received her Ph.D. in educational leadership from Clemson in 2019 and currently works in the Office of Teaching Effectiveness and Innovation.
She shared excerpts of a TEDx Talk she delivered in 2019. The theme was “breaking the mold,” which fell perfectly in line with her dissertation on women in the Army. She also challenged the graduating student veterans to be bold in the face of this next life transition.
“You’re all about to embark on major transitions in your lives — maybe to pursue another degree, to pursue a career or to build on a career you may already have,” said Lewis, who teaches in the Honors College. “You’re going to face challenges. Change is hard … but believe in yourself and show grace to yourself, especially during this time of transition.”
Brennan Beck, who serves as director of Military and Veteran Engagement, also delivered impassioned remarks to the graduating student veterans.
“You have proven how intelligent and determined you are by graduating this year, especially with all of the additional challenges presented to us over the past few months,” said Beck, who was honored as an upcoming August graduate with an M.Ed. in the counselor education – student affairs program. “This is a milestone in your life. Despite how unorthodox the world may be right now, I hope you take time to pause and appreciate everything you’ve done and overcome to get to this moment.”
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DOCTORAL GRADUATES
Sharad Creasman
• Educational leadership, with an emphasis in higher education
• Native of Brevard, North Carolina who served five years in the Air Force Reserves
• Member of Phi Kappa Phi and SALUTE Veterans Honor Society who served on a deployment to Korea
MASTER’S GRADUATES
Brennan Beck
• Counselor education – student affairs
• Native of Stockton, California who served five years in the United States Army infantry
• Serves as director of Military and Veteran Engagement at Clemson and advises the Student Veteran Association and SALUTE Veterans Honor Society
• Serves as a board member for Clemson Corps and as founding chair of the Clemson University Veterans Commission
• Staff senator who was recently initiated into Phi Kappa Phi
• Served on two deployments to Iraq and one to Germany
Jeffrey Crouch
• Business administration
• Native of Greenville, South Carolina who served 12 years in the United States Marine Corps
• Member of the Clemson University Veterans Commission and Student Veteran Association; vice president of the MBA Student Association
• Served on deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan
Jason Dodge
• Youth development leadership
• Native of Stafford, Virginia who served in the United States Army and Air Force as an aviation operations specialist
• Served on a deployment to Iraq
William Everroad
• Public administration
• Native of Pendleton, South Carolina who served 24 years in the Army Reserves as a combat engineer
• Served on deployments to Afghanistan (twice) and Iraq
Mary Gittings
• Human resource development
• Native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania who served eight years in the United States Air Force as a force support officer
• Served on a deployment to Afghanistan
Colin Hunt
• Human resource development
• Native of Seneca, South Carolina who served four years in the United States Army
• Member of SALUTE Veterans Honor Society who served on a deployment to Kosovo
Leah Jones
• Counselor education
• Native of Alexandria, Virginia who served 20 years in the United States Army as a financial management officer
• Member of Chi Sigma Iota, the Counseling Academic and Professional Honor Society, who served on deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan
Nathan Miller
• Business administration
• Native of Oxford, Nebraska who served eight years in the United States Marine Corps
• Member of SALUTE Veterans Honor Society who served on deployments to Kuwait, Japan, Thailand, Iraq and Afghanistan
Seth Morgan
• Business administration
• Native of Easley, South Carolina who served 14 years in the Army National Guard as a cyber network defense specialist
• Member of SALUTE Veterans Honor Society who served on a deployment to Afghanistan
Katie Purswell
• Public administration
• Native of Poolesville, Maryland who served nine years in the United States Army as a master intelligence analyst
• Member of Phi Kappa Phi and SALUTE Veterans Honor Society who served on deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan
BACHELOR’S GRADUATES
Kurt Brandon
• Secondary education
• Native of Westminster, South Carolina who served 24 years in the Army Reserves as an infantry, artillery and combat engineer
• Member of SALUTE Veterans Honor Society who served on two deployments to Iraq
Peyton Brisbane
• Pan African Studies
• Native of Charleston, South Carolina who served seven years in the Army National Guard as a petroleum supply specialist
• Clemson Army ROTC cadet and recipient of the Dr. Alan Schaffer Memorial Scholarship
Doyle Carr
• Parks, recreation and tourism management
• Native of Cincinnati, Ohio who served two years in the United States Army
• Member of SALUTE Veterans Honor Society who served on a deployment to Germany
James Conway
• Landscape architecture
• Native of Greenville, South Carolina who served 10 years in the United States Army
• Member of SALUTE Veterans Honor Society and National Honor Society for Landscape Architecture who served on a deployment to Afghanistan
Giff Finley
• Economics
• Native of Bristow, Virginia who served four years in the Coast Guard
• Member of Clemson Student Veteran Association and vice president of the SALUTE Veterans Honor Society
• Received Newport News Shipbuilding scholarship
Brandon Lane
• Industrial engineering
• Native of Augusta, Georgia who served for years in the United States Air Force as a bioenvironmental and engineering technician
Jacob Parker
• Industrial engineering
• Native of Portville, New York who served four years in the United States Navy as master at arms
• Served on a deployment to Bahrain
Crystal Smith
• Wildlife & fisheries biology
• Native of Hollywood, Florida who served eight years in the United States Air Force as an environmental systems craftsman
• Served on deployments to Iraq and Kyrgyzstan
Sean Thomas
• Mechanical engineering
• Native of North Augusta, South Carolina who served four years in the United States Marine Corps as an infantry mortarman
Austin Webber
• Business management
• Native of Charlotte, North Carolina who served five years in the Air Force National Guard as an airfield systems technician
Daniel Zielinski
• Mechanical engineering
• Native of Clemson, South Carolina who served six years in the United States Navy as an aviation support equipment technician
• Served on a deployment to the Persian Gulf