UMass Lowell Event Salutes Veterans on Campus, in Community
10/31/2019
Contacts for media: Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944, Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu and Christine Gillette, 978-934-2209, Christine_Gillette@uml.edu
Media Advisory
When: Friday, Nov. 1, 11 a.m.
Where: University Crossing, 220 Pawtucket St., Lowell. Contact UMass Lowell media relations for directions and parking information.
What: A top official with the Architect of the Capitol – the federal agency that preserves Washington, D.C., landmarks such as the U.S. Capitol, Supreme Court, Library of Congress and United States Botanic Garden – will be a featured speaker at the annual UMass Lowell Flag Ceremony.
UMass Lowell graduate William O’Donnell, the agency’s chief administrative officer, leads business support for key functions, including the conservation of the iconic buildings, monuments and artwork on Capitol Hill. O’Donnell, who grew up in Central Massachusetts, is a U.S. Navy veteran who previously served as the Navy’s assistant for administration and a director at the U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency.
Free and open to the public, the event salutes veterans in the community and at the university, where more than 1,000 student-veterans are pursuing a UMass Lowell education.
The ceremony features the unfurling of a three-story-tall American flag, remarks by Chancellor Jacquie Moloney, presentation of the colors by the UMass Lowell Air Force ROTC Detachment No. 345 and a performance by the UMass Lowell Marching Band.
Speakers will also include Dana DeFranco, one of this year’s inductees into the UMass Lowell Military Alumni Veterans Fame. DeFranco and her husband Salvatore, are veterans’ advocates and co-founders of Battle Grounds Coffee Co., which operates coffee shops in Lawrence and Haverhill. A recipient of the First Generation Business of the Year Award from the Massachusetts Family Business Association, the coffee shops incorporate a military theme drawn from Salvatore’s time as a U.S. Navy SEAL. The Haverhill resident, who attended UMass Lowell, launched the company with Dana while he was recovering from a traumatic brain injury he sustained while off duty.
The other 2019 inductees into the UMass Lowell Military Alumni Veterans Hall of Fame are:
- U.S. Army Command Sgt. Maj. James Carabello (ret.), a decorated veteran of two deployments to Iraq and four tours of Afghanistan who was raised in North Andover and graduated from UMass Lowell.
- Robert Kilmartin, a Lowell native and UMass Lowell graduate who is a former U.S. Marine Corps judge advocate and Massachusetts assistant attorney general.