MANSFIELD, PA— Mansfield University President Fran Hendricks, U.S. Air Force Brigadier General (retired), was back in uniform Monday, May 19 to serve as the keynote speaker at the first congressionally authorized Air Force commissioning ceremony at Yale University since 1957. Air Force ROTC returned to the Yale campus two years ago.
And, although that was a great honor for Hendricks, the real highlight followed his address.
After his speech, the MU President and his wife Connie pinned second lieutenants bars on their son Andrew, who graduated from Yale’s Saybrook College earlier in the day, as their daughter Stephanie looked on.
“To both witness and participate in this historic ceremony is a memory our family will always treasure,” Hendricks said.
During his speech, Hendricks addressed the three soon-to-be Air Force officers and cited advice given him by his father, a career Army enlisted man.
“My dad reminded me, as the leader, you eat last,” Hendricks said. “By that he meant, you always put your troops ahead of yourself. Leadership does not beget entitlement or privilege.”
“When things are going well for your area of responsibility, your place is behind your people so the light shines brightest on them,” he added. “When it is the opposite and things are not going well, your place is in the front taking responsibility for any deficiencies.”
Photos courtesy of Yale University Office of Public Affairs and Communications