The Class of 2023 has 5,908 graduates with military ties, and many of them joined with friends and family at the university’s annual Military Graduate Recognition Ceremony held on May 12, before the university’s Main Commencement Ceremony. The event honors all service members, veterans, and military spouses who have completed their degree during the 2022-23 academic year. This year, Liberty conferred degrees for 2,060 active duty service members and 2,631 military spouses.
The event opened with prayer, a presentation of the colors, and the singing of the national anthem. Active, reserve, and veteran military members stood when the themes of their respective branches were played during the Armed Forces medley.
U.S. Air Force Chaplain Col. (Ret.) Dr. Steven Keith, director of Liberty’s Center for Chaplaincy, and his wife, Delta, served as keynote speakers.
As tradition, each graduate received a commemorative coin engraved with a Bible, a U.S. flag, and a graduation cap.
On Saturday, Liberty’s Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) graduates who have committed to serve for the next eight years in the United States military were recognized during special commissioning ceremonies. Liberty’s Army ROTC Eagle Battalion commissioned 25 officers, and the Air Force and Space Force ROTC Day Wing unit commissioned 20 officers.
