2010 Highlights
Northwestern / IIT Navy
As you know, the Tawani Foundation graciously provided [funding] in 2010 for students in our Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) unit here at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT). We divided the grant into thirds so we could award our top performers in each of the freshman, sophomore, and junior classes.
Our primary mission at NROTC IIT is to develop Midshipmen and Officer Candidates morally, mentally, and physically in order to produce junior officers who are capable of immediately stepping into leadership positions in both the Navy and the Marine Corps. Along these lines, we conduct various leadership development as well as community involvement exercises. In the same spirit of Tawani Foundation President Col. James Pritzker’s focus on the value of the “citizen soldier,” we continue to engage our students in various ways with our local community. Some recent examples include outreach visits to local high schools and junior colleges, and volunteer our precision color guard team at civilian events.
Our three 2010 Tawani grant recipients are doing well:
Officer Candidate (OC) Soss earned a 4.0 spring term GPA in a Chemistry major at the University of Illinoi at Chicago. He is seeking designation as a pilot in the Navy upon his graduation this December, and he currently serves as the student battalion commanding officer – in charge of our entire group of students. He is maintaining a 4.0 cumulative GPA.
Sergeant (Sgt) Aaron Weisbrod, USMC, earned a 4.0 sprign term GPA in a Psychology major at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is also maintaining a 4.0 cumulative GPA. Sgt Weisbrod completed the Marine Corps Officer Candidate School last year, and is scheduled to graduate in May of 2012.
Midshipman 3rd Class Robert Griffin-Duncan earned a 3.0 spring term GPA in a Bio-Medical Engineering major at the Illinoi Institute of Technology. He is a rising star amongst last year’s freshmen, and has stepped up this year to lead seven of his peers as a Squad Leader.
We greatly value and appreciate the Tawani Foundation’s generosity and support of our program.