Student Veteran Victory Bell Ceremony

The Victory Bell Ceremony celebrates the prodigious accomplishments of Fordham’s 2019 graduating class of student veterans. This event is open to all graduating student veterans/dependents (and their families) who are eligible to walk in Fordham’s Commencement on Saturday, May 18. All graduating student veterans will receive a Fordham Veterans’ Initiative Graduation Medallion, with yellow ribbon, that they can wear during Commencement. Doors will open at 3 p.m. and we will have a social hour at the Bronx Beer Hall following the ceremony. If you are unable to attend, please fill out the registration page and your medallion will be mailed to you.

The Victory Bell, or Nimitz Bell, was given to the University in 1944 by Admiral Chester Nimitz as a commemoration for the lives lost in WWII and was first rung by President Truman in 1946. Originally the operating ship bell aboard the Japanese Warship Junyo, the bell serves today as a symbol of Fordham pride and culture. For student veterans, the Victory Bell is both a collegiate starting point and finish line. After student veteran orientation, newly admitted student veterans are introduced to the Nimitz Bell for the first time when they  participate in the Bell Ringing Ceremony and embark on their journey into higher education—many of them being absent from a classroom for decades. Today, the 2019 graduating class of student veterans return to the Victory Bell, close an important chapter of their lives, and celebrate a job well done.

All graduating student veterans will be given the opportunity to ring the historic Victory Bell and have their picture taken with their families by a professional photographer.