Alumni Veterans Tribute
Miami's Alumni Veterans Tribute celebrates our proud tradition of alumni in military service. Recognizing all five U.S. military branches, the Veterans Tribute consists of the following five elements:
- Two interwoven and rising spirals that represent liberty and justice and wind inward toward an illuminated U.S. flag
- An engraved band of names on the spirals of those who were killed in action or missing in action, symbolically placing Miami’s heroes at the foundation of U.S. freedoms
- Inscriptions of the Bill of Rights, military oath, Pledge of Allegiance and Preamble to the Constitution on the metal cap of the wall
- Quotes from former U.S. Presidents Benjamin Harrison (Miami 1852), Woodrow Wilson, and Harry S. Truman, and Gen. George S. Patton.
- A five-pointed star, featuring five entrances that each have a triangular planter box with the seal of one of the military branches
Designed by university architect emeritus Robert Keller ’73, the Tribute is an artistically reflective place to express and experience the values and emotions that are stirred while remembering our veterans.
Miami currently acknowledges nearly 8,000 alumni who have served and 279 killed in action or missing in action.
The dedication ceremony took place on November 11, 2018.
Your Service Counts
Are you a Miamian and a Veteran?
Miami University and the Miami University Alumni Association wish to celebrate the fine tradition of military service by its alumni (anyone who attended Miami for at least one semester). If you or a member of your family served in the military, we want to ensure that our records of your service and those of your loved ones are up to date.
In addition to reporting service, records of living veterans can be included in a searchable, public database; however, participants must opt in for inclusion.
Report your military service and opt in to be included in the Veterans Tribute database »
Report the service of a deceased Miamian who should be recognized in the Veterans Tribute database »
Miami Friends, American Heroes
Miami has a proud tradition of alumni in the military, which includes the service of Terry Graves ('67) and William "Rich" Higgins ('67)—best friends in college who became two of Miami's most decorated veterans.
Student Veterans Center
Miami's new Student Veterans Center in Wells Hall provides student veterans and military-affiliated students with a space to be around others with similar backgrounds and experiences. The Center is available to the students 24/7 and includes such amenities as desktop computers, comfortable furniture, a television and refrigerator, and lockers for storage.
The Center is handicapped accessible, in the center of campus and close to the Campus Avenue Building, which houses two locations the veterans may need: One Stop and the Student Success Center.
A result of collaboration by many staff members at Miami, the new Center will be open to the public before and after the Tribute ceremony on Sunday, November 11.
Make a Gift
Make a gift to the veterans tribute online
You can also send your gift by postal mail to the following address:
Miami University Foundation
Panuska Development Center
725 E. Chestnut Street
Oxford, Ohio 45056
Please make the check payable to "Miami University Veterans Tribute."
*To learn more about this project, contact Evan Lichtenstein, senior director of development for the College of Arts and Science, at 513-529-1263 or lichteec@MiamiOH.edu.
“That Miami has produced more than its share of military leaders over generations, from Souers to Buehl to Higgins to Arthur to Ralston, underscores its reputation as a premier institution of relatively small size. Consequently, a tribute to Miami Veterans not only honors America's fighting men and women, but also recalls the high values we hold dearly and have inculcated in our students since Miami's founding in 1809.”
-Lt. General Robert R. Ruark ’81, USMC
Miami’s highest-ranking active military officer