Veterans/ROTC Alumni Weekend Sept. 14-16
Retired Marine SSgt Derick Young, who holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Youngstown State University, receives the Cincinnatus Award during YSU’s Veterans and ROTC Alumni Weekend Sept. 14 to 16 on campus.
The annual YSU Cincinnatus Award honors an individual who has served their nation and returned to civilian life to continue the spirit of service by working or volunteering in areas such as public education, veterans’ organizations and other community endeavors and projects.
Young, who will be recognized at a dinner Friday night, served 14 years as a Marine beginning in 1998, primarily in the infantry, as a recruiter and as a martial arts instructor. He was deployed to various theaters, including the Middle East. Wounded in action, SSgt Young is the recipient of two Purple Hearts and honorably retired in 2012. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice in 2012 and a master’s degree in Criminal Justice in 2014, both from YSU. He currently is a part-time faculty member in the YSU department of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences.
He also is the volunteer coordinator of the Honor Court of the Mahoning County Court of Common Pleas. The court is for veterans charged with low-level non-violent felonies. Veterans successfully graduating from the Honor Court can have their charges dismissed.
The keynote speaker at the Friday event is CPT Mark G. Zwirgzdas, assistant professor of Military Science at YSU who served four deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan between 2010 and 2017. He also has been featured in several episodes of the National Geographic Channel’s “Chain of Command,” a documentary series that examines the war on extremism.
The weekend includes:
Friday, Sept. 14, 5:30 p.m.
Social Hour, Tours, Banquet, Cincinnatus Award, Program and Cash Bar
Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor (Steel Museum)
151 W. Wood St
Youngstown, OH 44503
Parking is available in the F45 lot on Wood Street.
$35 per person; $20 for students, RSVP deadline is Sept. 7.
Saturday, Sept. 15, 12:30 p.m.
Tour of the Carl A. Nunziato Veterans Resource Center
633 Wick Ave.
Parking is available in the M21 lot on Wick Avenue
Free, but reservations requested by Sept. 7.
Saturday, Sept. 15, 2 p.m.
Football Game: YSU vs Valparaiso
Stambaugh Stadium
Tickets $5 per person (special veterans rate) in a reserved block of seats; available only with reservations for Friday and/or Sunday.
Sunday, September 16
Vet-ROTC 3rd annual golf event to benefit the YSU Department of Military Science (Army ROTC)
Avalon Golf and Country Club
Warren, OH 44484
Registration 1 p.m. and shotgun start 2 p.m.
Guest speaker: YSU President Jim Tressel
$100 per golfer/$400 per foursome Includes 18 holes with cart, driving range, boxed lunch, dinner and prizes.
Golf Dinner only, $50 per person.
Hole Sponsorship $150 includes name on sign.
Reserve by Sept. 7.
For more information on all of the events, contact Catherine Cala in Alumni Engagement at 330-941-2752 or cacala@ysu.edu, or online.