LCSSAC Events
On January 16, LCSSAC hosted a Bingo/Game Night for all staff and faculty. Nine people attended and seven different games were played. Even though it was a small group, we had a blast and will definitely be doing it again.
The next LCSSAC event with be Breakfast with the Deans on Tuesday, April 9 in the West Faculty Lounge.
Potter Moves
Plans are underway with moving the remaining library materials out of the closed engineering library and into the Hicks Repository. We are currently working on relocating the life sciences journals followed by life sciences monographs, engineering journals, and finally engineering monographs, with the hope of having library materials completely out by the end of June.
Training Offered on Campus and the Surprising Result
by Mary Sego
The clerical and operations technical staff members do not have funds at their disposal to pursue training that may cost something, unless a special exception is made. This leads one to search and search for free opportunities on campus. Of course, the point of any training is to put what one learns to use, hopefully share what was gained from the training with colleagues and/or the Purdue community, and to grow as an employee.
Mary Sego speaking at the Purdue Memorial Union Veteran’s Day Service (November 2018). She is holding a photo of her uncle, Anthony Sego. An excerpt from her speech (full text is below) about him is as follows: “I lost one great-uncle during WWI. His name, Anthony Sego, Purdue 1917, appears on the plaque on the wall here in the Union. Over the years, I often stopped and looked at that plaque and wondered what my great-uncle was like as a Purdue student, along with the other 66 men who gave their lives during WWI.” Photo by Meredith Gozo
In October of 2018, I went to the Green Zone training that is offered by Purdue’s Veteran’s Success Center. This was an extremely rewarding experience, because it resulted in more that I had ever bargained for. I not only learned the extremely valuable services offered to Purdue students who are also veterans, I learned from participants’ shared stories of family members or those who have served in the military themselves, but I made a connection with the director of the center, Jamie Richards. I talked with Jamie during a break in the training, and shared some of the experiences I have had. I left the training enlightened and hoping to be more aware of what our Purdue veterans experience as students. Many face many more challenges than the average student does!
I went back to my office, and before I knew it, Jamie had sent me an e-mail asking if I would speak at the Purdue Memorial Union Veteran’s Day service. Well, me not being a public speaker, I had to really ponder this! This past year was the 100th anniversary of the WWI armistice, and I had a great-uncle who was a 1917 Purdue graduate and died serving his country in 1918. His plane crashed, as he was test piloting in Texas. He had no opportunity to live out his life. I wanted to honor him! Therefore, I put my fear of public speaking aside, in order to pay homage to Anthony Arthur Sego, and the additional 66 Purdue alums that lost their lives during WWI.
The day came for the speech, and I was not even scared to speak, because I was on a mission to honor these men! Their names can be found on the plaque in the Union, to the right of the front door. I completed the speech and received favorable feedback. Some that were not able to attend asked me for a copy of the speech, and that can be found here.
The lesson learned, is one never knows what can result from a free, training found here on campus! I reached out during a break, and a bond was formed that I never even dreamed would result. Now, time to search for more free training on campus, that I can benefit from and share! (Editor’s note: the text of Mary’s speech is below.)
In Honor of Our Purdue WWI Veterans upon the 100th Anniversary of the Armistice
Good Morning, it is an honor to speak to you today. I want to thank Jamie Richards, director of the Purdue’s Veterans Success Center, for giving me the opportunity to say a few words about our Purdue WWI veterans. I met Jamie through the Green Zone training, and I want to encourage all Purdue staff to take this valuable training.
This is the 100th Anniversary of the WWI armistice. I want to take this opportunity to honor our WWI Purdue veterans on this important anniversary! Over on the wall you will find a plaque honoring these men. At the top, it states, “In order to establish a permanent monument to patriotic service, the Purdue Memorial Union Building is dedicated as a perpetual memorial to these sons of our alma mater, who in the performance of the highest duty of citizenship and in devotion to lofty ideals, gave their lives in the service of their country.”
I often went with my parents to honor deceased relatives in local cemeteries. I vividly remember stopping at the graves of three of my maternal grandmother’s brothers who died during WWI. Of course it struck me how this must have forever affected my dear grandma. On my Dad’s side of the family, I lost one great-uncle during WWI. His name, Anthony Sego, Purdue 1917, appears on the plaque on the wall here in the Union. Over the years, I often stopped and looked at that plaque and wondered what my great-uncle was like as a Purdue student, along with the other 66 men who gave their lives during WWI.
Purdue trained, housed and supported 1,500 men from October 1, 1918 to June 30, 1919. The government paid them a dollar a day and 12 cents a day for tuition. At the close of the war, Purdue looked at the record of 4,013 men and women in the service, of those 67 gave their lives.
Two years ago, I made it a mission of mine to find out whom these men were, when I compiled a blog post for the Purdue Archives. It was important to me to honor them and their legacy, lest we forget!
The Debris yearbook was one great resource, because in the late 1800s and early 1900s, they posted a student’s activities under their senior picture, often with a short note about their personalities. I knew that my great-uncle Anthony had been on the track team. Under his photo in the 1917 Debris, it states, “The mile wasn’t the only thing he could run.”
Another student, Benjamin Hewitt, Class of 1911, “Hewitt graduated from Purdue with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering. As a student, he was a member of the Civil Engineering Society, Purdue Athletic Association, and the Varsity Football Squad.
The quote under his photo states, “With as wise a head and as big a heart as is his, the future can show but one word – Success.” It is so unfortunate he never had the opportunity to live this out, but certainly did, while giving his life for our country!
Another Purdue student at the time, Reginald Wallace Hughes, Class of 1906, graduated from Purdue with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. He was a member of Phi Delta Theta, the Athletic Association, and Exponent and Debris staffs. His thesis was on tests of steam automobiles.
After Purdue, Hughes was an employee of Fletcher Savings and Trust Company. He entered Second Officers Training Camp, Ft. Benjamin Harrison, IN on August 1917 and was commissioned Captain. He was then sent to Camp Funston, Kansas; assigned to 164th Field Artillery, Brigade Headquarters, 89th Division; and went overseas June 23, 1918, with Army occupation into Germany. He died of pneumonia February 1, 1918, in Bitburg, Germany. Many others would die from the influenza pandemic of 1918-19 during their time in the service.
Yet another Purdue alum, Robert Morse graduated with a Pharmacy degree and belonged to the Pharmaceutical Society as a student.
The caption under his photo states, “To look at him you would not think it, but he must have been pretty nervy when he answered one of Sturmer’s class questions with ‘Who wants to know?!”
He entered the service on June 26, 1918, in Lafayette, IN. He was sent to Camp Sherman, OH, assigned to 20th Company, 5thTraining Battalion, 158th Depot Brigade, and later transferred to the Medical Department at Base Hospital, Camp Sherman, OH. He died of accidental causes at Camp Sherman, August 19, 1918. He is buried in Lafayette, IN
I could go on, but for the sake of time I can’t. These men gave up their hopes and the dreams that they had as promising Purdue students, and ultimately they gave their lives. This plaque and the Memorial Union itself will stand for generations to come. I can only stand as a great-niece that wishes she had known my brave great-uncle, who flew planes, when it was a rare thing, in order to help the cause.
The Purdue Archives has many papers of former Purdue veterans. Sometimes valuable family papers, such as my uncle’s letters home where he talked about what it was like to pilot a test plane in 1918 are lost. It is important to preserve these items, in order to honor them, learn from them, and keep their memories alive for generations to come. I can now look at the plaque that was dedicated in honor of these courageous men, and they will be forever memorialized, lest we forget!
In closing, I remember dressing in my Dad’s Navy uniform as a child, putting on his American Legion cap before he left for meetings, and most of all, seeing the American Legion Commander crying at Dad’s grave while he spoke the day he was buried. Thanks Dad for your service, I miss you!
AND a heartfelt thank you to all veterans!!
