Inside…
Physics Major Recognized for Serving Her Country
Midshipman Lisa Brodsky
Midshipman Lisa Brodsky, a junior physics major from Colorado Springs, Co., has been named the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Distinguished Midshipman of the Year for Hampton University.
The CNO Distinguished Midshipman Graduate program is an award program to honor one graduating midshipman at each Navy ROTC unit consortium. The local consortium includes HU, Old Dominion University and Norfolk State University. Each consortium may nominate one midshipman per university who demonstrates the highest standards of leadership, academic and military performance.
Midshipman Lisa Brodsky met with
Rear Adm. Bruce Grooms.
“Being acknowledged by the CNO (Chief of Naval Operations) is an extreme honor, not only because he is the highest ranking officer in the Navy, but because he is the voice of the Navy on the Joint Chiefs of Staff,” explained Brodsky, who has a 3.8 GPA.
Brodsky chose to serve her nation through the Navy ROTC after hearing a story about the changing of the guard. In the story, a young soldier stands guard in a foreign land; cold, hungry but determined. Meanwhile an old man with a similar face taught at a school where a student entered the classroom bad mouthing America. Looking sad, the old man still smiled and explained that he traded the guard with his son so that this child would have the freedom to state his unhappiness with the status quo. Then, according to Brodsky, the storyteller turned to her and asked if she did not stand to change the guard, then who would?
“I am here so somebody can go home, to help protect the right to pursue happiness, and because somebody has to stand next to the guard, so they know they are not alone,” stated Brodsky.
The Navy ROTC program began at HU on June 4, 1981. The Department of Naval Science is located on the first floor of the Academy Building.
--Alison L. Phillips