By Carson Hobby – William Jewell’s Pryor Leadership program recently held a Veteran’s Day Event on November 10th. The event occurred in the Jewell cafeteria at 8:00 A.M. with the Jewell Football Team during their pregame breakfast. The first 50 veterans and their families got into the event for free. Kevin Shaffstall, Director of Pryor Center for Leadership and Development and Jewell student, Ryan Hiatt, worked with Liberty Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4043 to get veteran speakers to participate at the event. Additionally, Post 4043 conducted the missing soldiers ceremony during the breakfast. This ceremony included a plate with a lemon on it and a jacket draped on a chair around an empty table. These symbols were used to signify the sourness of war and the men and women that were lost.

Towards the end of the event, Kevin Shaffstall and Athletic Director Tom Eisenhauer were presented a plaque from the Missouri Order of the Purple Heart. This plaque made William Jewell a Purple Heart Campus. The Purple Heart is an award given to soldiers who were wounded in combat. In addition to the breakfast with the football team, the guests were invited to the Jewell football game which was being held as a Veterans Appreciation football game. Veterans were our honored guests and were recognized at halftime of the game.

On behalf of William Jewell College, I would like to thank all of the men and women of our armed forces for their service. For me, it was an honor being a part of this event