News home
Nine members of Princeton's Class of 2024 became commissioned officers in the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force on May 28 during a ceremony led by Gen. Christopher G. Cavoli, a Class of 1987 alumnus who was commissioned through Princeton's ROTC program more than 30 years ago.
Cavoli is NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe and commander of the U.S. European Command. He is a recipient of Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson Award, the University’s highest undergraduate alumni honor. The ROTC Commissioning was held in the Faculty Room of Nassau Hall a few hours after Princeton’s Commencement.
Left: Gen. Christopher G. Cavoli delivered this year's commissioning address. Right: Princeton University President Christopher L. Eisgruber praised the officers being commissioned as “worthy inheritors of the history and ideals that course through this building.”
Princeton President Christopher L. Eisgruber took note of the historic site of the commissioning ceremony within Nassau Hall, which General George Washington liberated from the British during the Battle of Princeton. Citing historian Gordon S. Wood, who called Washington’s voluntary relinquishment of power to the Continental Congress in 1783 “the greatest act of his life,” Eisgruber spoke to those assembled about the enduring legacy of Washington’s sacrifice.
“To preserve and extend the tradition that he began, we must have civilian leaders who respect military service, and we must have military officers who subscribe to the principles of republican government and share in the benefits of liberal learning,” Eisgruber said, praising the students about to be commissioned as “worthy inheritors of the history and ideals that course through this building.”
Aidan Brooks Walsh, commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps, makes his Silver Dollar Salute.
“This University takes great pride in you and in what you have accomplished,” Eisgruber said. “We are proud of your learning. We are proud of your courage. We are proud of your commitment to our Constitution, to the United States Armed Forces, and to the intertwined traditions from which they emanate. ... I am pleased to extend to you, on behalf of Princeton University, my best wishes for the future and my most heartfelt congratulations.”
Princeton students in the Class of 2024 commissioned through the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force ROTC programs are:
The group represented a range of majors, including chemistry, economics, engineering, history, linguistics and politics, as well as activities such as the Chinese Language Association, McGraw Center for Teaching and Learning tutor, Outdoor Action leader, peer academic adviser, Princeton Entrepreneurship Club, Princeton French and Francophone Society, and club sports.
In his commissioning address, Cavoli spoke of the grave responsibility the new officers would be assuming as individuals who may be called to lead America’s sons and daughters in times of war.
“You're going to step into the ranks of the United States military. You are going to get an insignia, and for most of you, it's going to be a simple gold bar. It's not very big,” he said.
“But it is heavy. It is weighted with the expectations of your future subordinates. It is heavy with the responsibility that you will open their eyes, and it is weighted down by the weight of the Oath of Office that you swear to.”
Gen. Cavoli (far left) and President Eisgruber (far right) stand with the nine members of Princeton’s Class of 2024 who became commissioned officers in the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force on Tuesday, May 28.
After taking their oath of office, the newly commissioned officers received their ranking pins and performed the traditional Silver Dollar Salute. Delaney Savidge chose her father, retired Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Kevin Savidge, for her salute.
The ceremony was attended by families and friends, University administrators and military representatives, including retired Gen. Mark A. Milley, a 1980 Princeton graduate commissioned through the University’s ROTC program who served as the 20th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Milley received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree at Princeton's 2024 Commencement.
The afternoon was especially meaningful for the graduates' parents, who pinned ranks onto their children’s uniforms. Three of the officers were pinned by members of their family who are in the military.
Lauren Besch received ranks from her mother, retired Army Col. Terry Besch, and her three siblings. Jordan Bowman-Davis was pinned by family including his grandfather, retired Navy Capt. Peter Bowman, and Aidan Walsh was pinned by his mother and father, retired Marine Corps Capt. Jeff Walsh.
The Grammy Award-winning musician Jon Batiste, a friend of William Goldberg's family, performed a moving rendition of “America the Beautiful” toward the end of the ceremony.
Princeton's Army ROTC Tiger Battalion is the longest continuously running ROTC program in the United States, having been founded in 1919. The University re-established its Navy ROTC program in 2014 after a 43-year absence from campus, then reinstated a transfer program aimed at admitting more veteran, community college, and low-income students four years later.
