Celebrating Independence Day

The following content first appeared on the news page while UMass Global operated under its former name of Brandman University.

As Americans gear up to celebrate Independence Day in the United States, we invite our readers to learn more about Brandman University alumni veterans and other members of the armed forces.

Collected in recognition of the Fourth of July and Brandman’s long-standing relationship with the military, these accounts illustrate how people of diverse backgrounds have contributed to our nation in times of need and have also reached new levels of individual accomplishment while in uniform.

Brandman stories:

• Joint Base Lewis-McChord to celebrate 160 Brandman graduates (June 3, 2021)
  Brandman’s 2021 graduating class includes Air Force Staff Sgt. Samantha Reel, a McChord Field campus student who received the university’s Military Academic Achievement Award for Air Force students in 2020. Reel enrolled with Brandman in the summer of 2019 and will be receiving a Master of Science in Human Resources.
   
• Army veteran earns Bachelor of Arts, sets out on path to MSW degree (July 2, 2020)
  [Staff Sgt. Mike] Mathews, 35, recently completed courses for a Bachelor of Arts in Applied Studies degree. He is set to continue his education by entering the university’s Master of Social Work program this fall. He’s motivated, he said, by a drive to pay forward the benefits of the wise advice he himself received in his own youth.
   
• Veteran Profile: Marine Corps veteran and alumnus Francisco Vazquez (Nov. 11, 2019)
  Francisco Vazquez - Iraq War veteran, Brandman University alumnus, and now a business professional immersed in the use of such advanced technologies as artificial intelligence, robotic process automation and blockchain– has dedicated much of his life to service and education, and these commitments have in turn propelled him to new opportunities.

Other news stories and histories:

• First 3rd CR female earns Expert Infantry Badge (Fort Hood Sentinel, April 22, 2021)
  1st Lt. Maria Eggers from Crazyhorse Troop, 1st Squadron, is the first female officer from the 3rd Cavalry Regiment to test and earn the Expert Infantry Badge and qualified at the highest level, True Blue.
  
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• “We Made it, Friend” The First African American Female Officers in the US Navy (The National World War II Museum, Feb 24, 2021).
  With acceptance approved, the search began for the first African American women to participate in the WAVES officer training program. Two women were chosen, Harriet Pickens and Frances Wills. Pickens was the executive secretary at the Harlem Tuberculosis and Health Committee when she enlisted in the WAVES on November 13, 1944. Born in Philadelphia, Wills had an equally impressive resume, with degrees from Hunter College and the University of Pittsburgh. Frances Wills was employed as a social worker in New York City when she enlisted alongside Pickens.
   
• First Black Female Brigade Commander at Naval Academy Leads With Passion (U.S. Department of Defense, March 12, 2021)
  Senior-class Naval Academy Midshipman 1st Class Sydney Barber is a mechanical engineering major at the campus in Annapolis, Maryland, and will be a 2nd lieutenant Marine Corps ground officer when she graduates this spring.
   

• The Asian American Women Who Fought to Make Their Mark in WWII (History.com, May 3, 2021)
  Asian American women played a critical part in America’s war effort during World War II. Coming from diverse backgrounds—including Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Filipino—they served in important roles ranging from pilots and translators to factory workers and guerrilla fighters.