The
League of Women Voters of the Greater Dayton Area
has been proud to participate in the naturalization
ceremonies that are held on a monthly basis in
the courtroom of Chief Judge Walter Rice, United
States District Court for the Southern District
of Ohio. We are always looking for volunteers to
participate and represent the League. Check out
the new calendar for this year and call the League
office to reserve a date!!!
I
became an American citizen by accident of birth, merely
by being born in the USA. I
have received all the benefits of citizenship without
ever having to make a conscious choice, without ever
having to swear to “support
and defend the Constitution and laws of the United
States of America against all enemies, foreign or
domestic.”
I
came to a sudden and new realization of how little has
been asked of me when I participated for the first time
in one of the monthly naturalization ceremonies
conducted by the US District Court for the Southern
District of Ohio. On Thursday, November 16, 2006, in a
federal courtroom packed with friends, family and
observers, 65 women and men from 34 countries took the
oath of American citizenship and became citizens by
deliberate choice, after a considerable expenditure of
the energy and effort needed to
meet all of the prerequisites.
In
the Dayton area, Judge Walter Herbert Rice presides over
the regular monthly naturalization ceremonies,
administering the Oath of American Citizenship,
scheduling important members of the local community to
speak to the new citizens and inviting members of local
service organizations to provide them with information
of interest and use for all citizens.
On
November 16, Dr. Francis Conte (former Dean of and now a
full-time professor at the University of Dayton School
of Law) was the keynote speaker. Representatives from a
wide variety of organizations (the Dayton Bar
Association, the Jewish War Veterans, the Sertoma Club,
the American Red Cross, the Daughters of the American
Revolution, the League of Women Voters, the Ohio Civil
Rights Commission, the Social Security Administration
and the Miami Valley Fair Housing Center) joined Judge
Rice, Judge Thomas Rose and U.S. Magistrate Judges
Michael Merz and Sharon Ovington in welcoming these 65
individuals into American citizenship.
Sharon
Harmer (LWVGDA President Elect, 2007) briefly described
the mission of the LWV and provided each new citizen
with an envelope containing a voter registration
application and information about local elected
officials. As I helped Sharon hand out these envelopes,
I was both thrilled and humbled by the event and by the
opportunity to shake hands with these marvelously
diverse new additions to the greatness of America.
I urge
others to volunteer to attend future naturalization
ceremonies on behalf of the League. For more
information, including dates and times of ceremonies and
the full text of the Oath of American Citizenship, visit
the LWVGDA website under the heading
“Naturalization.”
The
Oath of American Citizenship |
