In May 2023, senior ROTC cadet Jack W. Eustis (Eta/Rhode Island 2023) was presented the University of Rhode Island’s Parker D. Cramer Memorial Award.
The award is named in memory of 1st Lt. Parker D. Cramer, a 1959 graduate of URI, who was killed in an ambush during Spring 1963 while serving as an adviser in the Republic of South Vietnam. Parker was the first URI student to perish during the conflict in Vietnam. Established after his death in 1965, the award is presented to the URI ROTC cadet who has demonstrated the most outstanding officer potential, military leadership, and scholastic excellence.
Since its establishment, the award has been presented to the graduating senior of each class by a living member of Lt. Cramer’s family. Lt. Parker’s sister, Nancy, is married to John Wilson (Eta/Rhode Island 1964). In addition, URI’s AROTC cadet batallion was named “Cramer’s Sabers” in honor of Lt. Parker in 1986.
Originally from East Greenwich, RI, Brother Eustis majored in International Diplomacy and Arabic. Eustis has been a part of the ROTC program since his first semester at URI and joined Theta Chi the following spring. He was a member of the URI Student Senate and also received two Project Global Officer Scholarships (Project GO), designed to equip future military officers with valuable language and intercultural skills. During his senior year he served as the Cadet Battalion Commander and was selected to attend the George C. Marshall Leadership and Awards Seminar in Ft. Knox, KY, with more than 200 other ROTC cadets from around the country.
Eustis reflected on his membership in Theta Chi and said, “The most important thing that Theta Chi gave me was a sense of community which I believe many other young people desperately seek but are not able to find. As a brother of Theta Chi, I was never alone. Whether I was walking around campus, in the library, in the gym, or out around town, I would always run into another brother. The sense of belonging that comes from always being around someone who has your best interests in mind wherever you are is indescribable and I wish everyone would be able to experience that feeling.”
He added, “Being chosen to join the ranks of the other outstanding ROTC men and women who walked through the same halls as me over the past four years is an incredible honor, and I wouldn’t have been able to do it without my fellow cadets alongside me and without the confidence my Fraternity instilled in me.”
Eustis shared thoughtful advice to younger and future cadets, “When you succeed it is due to your team. When your team fails it is due to yourself.”
Brother Eustis was commissioned as a 2nd Lt. in the U.S. Army on May 18, 2023.
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Founded in 1856, Theta Chi Fraternity is a men’s collegiate fraternity with more than 200,000 initiated members and has established 245 chapters. Theta Chi’s mission is to develop college-age men into successful students, good citizens, lifelong brothers, and resolute leaders.