The Corps of Cadets will honor the life of Cadet Matthew La Porte during today's second annual 5k memorial run. La Porte, a member of the Air Force ROTC, died in the shootings of April 16, 2007 attempting to disarm Seung Hui Cho and save his fellow classmates from harm.
"It's just something the corps of cadets wanted to get started considering we lost one of our own," said air force ROTC wing commander Cadet Josiah Donaldson, a senior geography major. "It's just important for us to honor and remember him."
La Porte enjoyed physical training. Colonel Rock Roszak, associate director of corps alumni relations said there could be no better way to celebrate the life of La Porte than with a physical activity.
"This event is a good way to bring everybody together. Cadets have a healthy lifestyle. A run is a natural way for us to come together; it's what we do," Roszak said. "The university will come to grips over time with what they will do to remember those we lost ... And we'll do (this run) each year."
La Porte had been enrolled in an elite program called the Air Force Special Operations Preparation Team. Members of the Corps regarded La Porte as a cadet of stellar potential.
"La Porte was a very, very good cadet," said Cadet Ignatius Green, a junior public and urban affairs major, one of the event's organizers. "He would have served this country very well."
In order to serve his honor, the Corps holds this 5K run for donations to his scholarship fund. Roszak said this year there will be extra incentive for cadets to participate. Major General Jerrold Allen, Commandant of the Corps, will run in the event with a challenge: for every cadet who finishes ahead of him, he will personally donate $1 to the fund. Around 500 of the cadets are expected to run, which has the potential to make the Major General's wallet quite a bit lighter if he finishes late in the race.
"He's in pretty good shape, he won't be last," Roszak said.
Cadet Johnathan Bonilla, a senior aerospace engineering major, a very good friend of La Porte, and the event's key organizer, said they expect to raise "around $4,000" for the scholarship. Last year the event accrued $4,500.
"It's an honor to organize this event for a friend," Bonilla said.
The scholarship is designed for cadet members of the Highty Tighties, the student regimental band, with preference given for AFROTC members. Cadet Christopher Briggs, a freshman biology major, is this year's scholarship recipient. The run starts at 1500 hours sharp at the Corps of Cadets' Ranger obstacle course located behind the Duck Pond parking lot.
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