Student, Coach to Speak on Veterans Day

11/11/2014 

SUNY Cortland will celebrate Veterans Day with a short ceremony Tuesday, Nov. 11, featuring remarks from an assistant football coach and current student who served five years in the U.S. Marine Corps.

Sponsored by the College President’s Office, the event takes place at 3 p.m. in Brockway Hall Jacobus Lounge. It is free and open to the public.

The half-hour ceremony and reception immediately following in the Margaret A. “Peggy” Curry ’52 Main Lobby will provide an opportunity for SUNY Cortland students, employees and community members to thank veterans for their service.

Rocha

Jon Rocha, a junior kinesiology: coaching major at the College, will offer remarks as the event’s keynote speaker. Rocha spent five years from 1999 to 2004 in the U.S. Marine Corps, including a tour of duty in Afghanistan and stops in Iraq and Kuwait.

He served as an avionics technician during his service, responsible for maintaining helicopters that routinely carried fellow troops on combat missions. After his honorable discharge, Rocha built and tested helicopters in Corning, N.Y., while attending Corning Community College full time and raising two children as a single parent.

When his company moved its operations to Poland in 2012, Rocha opted to attend SUNY Cortland and pursue a career in coaching. He currently serves as assistant defensive backs coach of the College’s football team.

For more information, contact the President’s Office at 607-753-2377.