Dedication. Honesty. Joyfulness. Respect. Integrity.

These are the traits celebrated by Culver each Sept. 16. These are the traits possessed by one of Culver’s heroes – Marine 1st Lt. Andrew Stern, Class of 1998, who died Sept. 16, 2004, from injuries received due to enemy action in Al Anbar Province, Iraq.

Remembering the 24-year-old Tennessean “is not a celebration of war nor of a death, but of the life Andrew Stern lived,” Guy Weaser said at Sunday’s ceremony. Weaser is the Academies rowing coach, and Stern was one of his rowers.

As a senior, Stern was one of four co-captains. He capped his season with a second-place finish in the quadruple scull at the Midwest Scholastic Championship. That earned the quad an invitation to the 1998 USRowing Youth Invitational. “They trained hard and rowed well,” Weaser said, “but still finished seventh of the seven entries.”

Stern went to row at the University of Tennessee, coaching the novice team in his sophomore year. He stayed in touch with Culver, however, and visited the team once in Indianapolis while attending tank school in Kentucky.

Each Sept. 16 as Stern is remembered, a scholarship in his name is also awarded to a rising senior on Culver’s rowing team who best personifies the traits he exhibited – dedication, honesty, joyfulness, respect, and integrity.

The 2012 scholarship will be shared by two four-year seniors who are also four-year members of the rowing team – Celeta Dodge of Walkerton, Ind., and Daniel Gaynor of Seattle.

By: Doug Haberland
Culver Communications