While most University students head home after graduation next week, 43 will be staying behind to become commissioned officers of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps on Monday, May 18.

“It’s nice because the campus is cleared out, and it’s the only big ceremony going on,” said Kent Kraus, U.S. Army Liaison to the University of Illinois for Military Awards and Ceremonies.

Commissioning is the formal process by which cadets of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, or ROTC, program become officers in the armed forces. During the Commissioning Ceremony, the incoming officers take an oath of office. Military officers derive their authority from the President of the United States, and only the President has the authority to appoint military officers.

“There’s definitely a ‘wow factor’ to being a presidential appointee,” said Christopher Boyer, senior in LAS.

During the ceremony, the newly commissioned officer walks on stage through the Arch of Sabers, and receives his or her first salute from a non-commissioned officer (senior enlisted men and women) of his or her choosing. Kraus gave the first salute to his daughter in 2006. It was the only time he has put on his uniform since he retired from the Army in 1997.

“As the officer walks through the Arch of Sabers it signifies them passing the hurdle from a cadet to a respected officer,” Kraus said.