The Worcester State community will celebrate the life of alumnus Captain Ross A. Reynolds ’17 with the dedication of a new memorial fountain on May 11 at 10 a.m. The special event will bring together Reynolds’s friends, family, faculty, and fellow classmates for a morning to honor the fallen Marine’s lasting impact at the university.
During his time at Worcester State earning a criminal justice degree, Reynolds was a Presidential Student Ambassador and NROTC member. He volunteered for University Advancement Days of Giving and represented the university during trips abroad to Ireland and England. Every detail of the new 2,000-square-foot plaza and the meditative cast-iron kettle fountain in front of the Sullivan Academic Center was designed to create a welcoming space that honors Reynolds’s life.
The dedication event will include remarks by a number of individuals who knew Reynolds personally: Worcester State President Barry Maloney, Reynolds’s friend and fellow Presidential Student Ambassador Madison Barron ’17 and Capt. Kory Fitzpatrick, U.S. Marine Corps Marine Officer Instructor, who was a Worcester State University student and member of the Holy Cross NROTC with Reynolds. Capt. Fitzpatrick was Capt. Reynolds’s commissioning officer, who also promoted Reynolds to captain.
The Presentation of Colors will be by the Holy Cross NROTC’s Battalion Color Guard. Holy Cross is the host site for all of Worcester State Navy and Marine NROTC students. The national anthem will be sung by Worcester State alumnus and Army/Air Force Veteran Matthew Gonzalez ’23.
After Capt. Reynolds died in an Osprey accident in 2022, Worcester State staff members who knew him came together to establish a leadership award in his name that will be granted each year to a current Presidential Student Ambassador who exemplifies Reynolds’s qualities of leadership, integrity, and selfless devotion to the community. Since then, hundreds of friends and family members have given to support the award. Recently, the Leominster Credit Union donated $25,000 to endow the award in perpetuity.
The university will present the first Captain Ross A. Reynolds ’17 Memorial Presidential Leadership Award at the dedication event to Honors student and Presidential Student Ambassador Jessica Rancourt, a senior majoring in psychology with a concentration in mental health services and a minor in human development.
Those wishing to attend are asked to register online.
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