The Sendoff Tradition

Every summer, in cities across the country, Norwich alumni host something called a Student Sendoff: a welcome that introduces incoming students and their families to Norwich University, in Northfield, Vermont, before they ever set foot on campus.

This summer alone, alumni volunteers hosted at least 33 Student Sendoffs across 22 states, welcoming more than 80 incoming students. New York led the way with six. More than 700 alumni turned out, alongside 50 current students who came back to offer advice and welcome the families behind them.

For Richard Ohlsen, a 2007 graduate of Norwich's College of Graduate and Continuing Studies, this year meant starting over. Last year's sendoff was held in a state park that was hard to find and harder to reach. This year, Richard used his own connections to find something better, a location central to both of New York's Nassau and Suffolk County's incoming students. “Long Island is an area that is overlooked by the school,” he says.

Hosting mattered for more than logistics, especially with two children who'd just graduated. “It meant a lot to host this year's sendoff, especially as graduate school alumni and as a parent,” he says. Two of his children graduated from Norwich this year: Amanda, with an M.S. in Cybersecurity, and Kevin, with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, and a spot on the Norwich baseball team.

Having sent Kevin through a sendoff himself, Richard wanted incoming parents to have what he didn't. “I feel it is important to share the information I learned as a parent with the incoming students' parents,” he says. For Kevin, a civilian student, that preparation had a specific shape. “[He] saw Norwich as a way to learn how to work with either former or current military co-workers.”

One moment has stayed with Richard, from both this year's sendoff and the one he attended for Kevin. “Current students and recent graduates take the lead on talking to these incoming students,” he says. “Many other college students, or recent graduates, would stand back and not initiate. Norwich students initiate the conversation and tell incoming students what they will deal with, and tell them they will make it through, do not give up. This shows how Norwich is preparing both Corps and civilian students.”

Asked what Norwich has meant to his family over the years, Richard traced it back to the beginning. “From the moment I enrolled, Norwich made me feel like part of the Norwich family, and that sense of community has kept me connected through the years, including attending Homecoming whenever we could.” That commitment, he says, goes back further than his own time at Norwich. “Norwich's commitment to service before self reflects values that have guided me throughout my life, values first instilled by my grandparents and parents, and that continue to shape both my professional career and my ministry.”

For Diedrich Holtkamp, a 2008 graduate and volunteer with the Norwich University Alumni Club NYC, hosting has grown into something closer to a family tradition than a single event. Together with fellow alum Willie Wright '93, he co-hosts what's become the Student Sendoff Weekend, a guided tour through Central Park led by Wright, lunch afterward at Amy Ruth's in Harlem, and a cookout at Diedrich's house the following day.

The weekend suits him for a simple reason. “Personally, I enjoy spending time with family, and the Student Sendoff is exactly that,” he says. “Introducing the incoming students and their families to the Norwich family creates a memorable experience that they will never forget. I believe it's important for the students and their families to feel the support of the Norwich community before stepping foot onto campus and to know we have their back should they ever need our assistance.”

That belief has roots that go back further than the sendoff itself. Diedrich joined the Corps of Cadets and Air Force ROTC during his own time at Norwich. His son Gabriel, class of 2027, is doing the same 21 years later, heading into his senior year before commissioning into the Air Force upon graduation.

For Diedrich, hosting his own son's sendoff carried a different weight entirely. “Hosting my son's student sendoff was no doubt the most memorable for me,” Diedrich said. Many of the alumni and staff his son met that day were meeting him for the first time, and the impression held. “The experience made a positive lasting impression, helping him adapt to and persevere through Corps life over the last few years. I will be forever grateful to the Norwich community as a dad for that.”

For Kate and Kevin Mercadante '77, this year marked a milestone 25 years in the making. They were recognized this summer for hosting their 25th consecutive Student Sendoff in Central Massachusetts, a quarter century of welcoming incoming students into the Norwich family.