In the last 40 years, Lincoln University's ROTC program has commissioned 383 second lieutenants for the U.S. Army.
That's an average of 9.575 each year, from a program that now has an assigned mission of graduating 12 commissioned officers each year.
And since 1975, the Blue Tiger Battalion has named 51 of the program's graduates to its "Hall of Fame" - with five of those honorees inducted Friday.
"We are here today to bring honor to the ideas of the military service, by upholding the five Blue Tiger alumni today (who) exemplify what it means to lead and serve, while adhering to the highest standards and traditions," Col. Douglas C. Rose told the LU ROTC students and the families and friends of the five newest honorees. "Each of these great leaders has been tested and proven capable of serving with honor in times of peace and in times of conflict.
"By honoring these inductees, we are formally acknowledging that they are role models, outstanding leaders - ones who have walked the walk and set the highest example."
Rose graduated in 1989, and was inducted into the LU ROTC Hall of Fame in 2010.
He noted that Lincoln's Army Reserve Officer Training Corps program has operated since the early 1950s, and "has trained hundreds of college students looking to serve something greater than themselves."
LU President Kevin Rome presented the awards to each of the honorees.
At the beginning of the hour-long ceremonies, Rome said: "There's no greater duty that one can perform in this country, than to serve us through military service - so, you should be applauded for all that you do."
Based on his own travels around the world, Rome said, "I know there's no greater country than the country we live in. There's no safer country.
"And we enjoy liberties in this country that are not afforded to people all over the world - and we are afforded those because of the military that serve us. And most of us take it for granted - because we have no idea what it's like in other places."
Each inductee had a chance to comment on the award and its meaning.
• Retired Col. Albert J. Gardner Jr. graduated from Lincoln in 1977, and called the award "an honor" and "very heart-warming."
"This segment of my life's journey started right here, 41 years ago," he recalled.
As a freshman in 1973, he said he and other new students were told about the Army's two-, three- and four-year scholarships available through the ROTC.
"And you will receive $100 a month," Gardner remembers being told. "I couldn't go back (to St. Louis) because I didn't the money.
"So I stayed -and thank the Lord I did stay. And the rest is history.
"And if it hadn't been for that $100 a month, I wouldn't be standing here, today."
• Rebecca Torry spoke on behalf of her son, Lt. Col. Ramon T. Torry, who couldn't attend Friday's LU ceremonies because he was attending another awards program - receiving the Army Community of Excellence Award for the Best Regional Support Command in the U.S.
Ramon is a 1986 LU graduate. One of his brothers, Joe Torry, is a popular broadcaster and LU graduate who also is in Jefferson City this weekend for Lincoln's Homecoming.
Rebecca thanked God for the gifts given to her children.
"And you, Lincoln - you embraced it and pushed (Ramon) forward," she said. "And that's a blessing."
• Col. Marguerite E. Taylor also graduated from LU in 1986, and called the ceremonies "quite an awesome event."
When asked if she was excited about the honor, Taylor said, "For me, the word is more "humbled.'"
She started her career with caution.
"As a black female, as I left this building," she recalled, "I quickly learned that I had to be three times as better, and I had to work three times as hard, just to be on the same plane as my counterparts."
But she also learned that her Army service was a part of God's calling in her life.
"And I learned that respect goes both ways," she said. "You may respect the rank on the collar - that's a given, because we're in the military.
• Lt. Col. Clannie E. Smith graduated from LU in 1987, and told the current cadets planning a military career: "You have an adventurous career ahead of you."
That career could be described as "a bit like jumping out of an airplane or riding a bull," Smith said. "When you get through with it, your body's going to be torn up, your mind's going to be a wreck.
"But you will survive - and you will stand up. You will have succeeded.
"And you'll be the better for it."
He encouraged the students to hold on to their principles - even if they're the only person holding on to that idea.
• And Col. Christopher B. Fry Sr., another 1987 graduate whose son is an LU freshman, also part of the ROTC program - and the fourth generation of his family to attend Lincoln - said today's students should set goals and not waver.
"I was once told that I would not make captain," Fry said, telling the cadets: "Be proud of who you are and where you are.
"Don't let anyone make you believe that you cannot achieve."