ROTC Cadets Represented in Bucknell Artwork

Published 12.10.2012

News

Alumni of Bison Battalion who have gone on to successful Army careers have been brought to life in an art project on Bucknell University's Academic Quad.



Cadets' yearbook photo recreated by Bucknell University student artists.Bucknell students Dulcinea Muñoz, Abbey Brundage and Kate Doughty recreated a photograph from the 1985 L’Agenda yearbook of five university cadets marching on the Academic Quad. From left, the painted images depict (now-Col.) Stephen Maranian, ’88; (now-Col.) Andrea Stahl, ’88; (retired Lt. Col.) Mark Jones, '87, and (retired Lt. Col.) Lloyd “Chad” Jones ’89. The cadet carrying the sabre in the front has yet to be identified.

“It is a nice homage to people in uniform, and we should be proud to have it here," Doughty said.

The images have especially resonated with cadets in Bison Battalion, the Bucknell-based Army ROTC program that also comprises Bloomsburg and Susquehanna universities, Pennsylvania College of Technology and Lycoming College.

“Aesthetically, the paintings look very heroic to me. The faces appear anonymous and make the figures look like they are carrying the burden of sacrifice soldiers take as they walk point for our nation's defense," said Senior Cadet Patrick A. Towery, deeply moved by the paintings. "I try to imagine myself marching across the quad with them, and it validates my decision to come here to Bucknell through the Army ROTC program.”

Provided with a photo of the artwork, Maranian said he plans a return trip to Bucknell to pose with the artists' rendering of himself. It's an opportunity that almost vanished.

On a recent Friday night, two of the figures were stolen from the Quad. A campuswide buzz of disappointment ensued, as students expressed outrage through social-media outlets such as Facebook. Soon afterward, the paintings were returned to their original location.

Maranian is class president at the Army War College in Carlisle, Stahl serves at the Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Mark Jones is with the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Lloyd Jones is employed at the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Region V headquarters in Chicago.