The annual Veterans Day tribute will be held at Southern Arkansas University at noon on Monday, November 11, in Grand Hall of the Donald W. Reynolds Center. Chaplain Captain Patrick Finney will be the guest speaker. SAU students, faculty, and staff will also participate in the ceremony.
Finney, a 1996 graduate of Central Arkansas, currently serves as the Safety Coordinator at SAU and is Chaplain Captain of the Arkansas National Guard. He earned a Master of Theology from the Missionary Baptist Seminary in 2011. Finney enlisted in the U.S. Navy Reserve as a Seabee in 1999 and served until he went on active duty with the U.S. Navy from 2001 until 2004. In 2004, he joined the Arkansas National Guard and was commissioned into the Chaplain Corps in 2009.
Finney and his wife Stephanie have been married for 30 years. They have four children and four granddaughters.
Students participating in the program include Amayah Gray, who will lead the Pledge of Allegiance; Nathan Burkhalter, an SAU student and retired Staff Sergeant with the U.S. Army, who will sing the national anthem; and Miss SAU, Kory Lynn Jennings, who will sing “Hallelujah Veteran.”
Other SAU students participating are Hunter Leach, who will read a veterans poem; Jada Bell, who will sing “God Bless America”; Kyla McElroy, who will present a Salute to Troops and First Responders; and Amani Amos who will sing “America the Beautiful.”
The SAU Brass Quintet will perform an Armed Forces Salute. Lunch will be served in the Blue and Gold Cafeteria from 11 a.m. until noon, and the ceremony will begin at noon.
For more information on the event, please contact Brittany Lenard at 870-235-4033 or bmlenard@saumag.edu.
