Colorado College President L. Song Richardson has been named to the United States Air Force Academy Honorary Commanders Program.

Air Force Academy Superintendent Lt. Gen. Richard Clark named Richardson, along with about 20 other community members, to the next term of the Honorary Commanders Program. The honorary commanders will serve through October 2024.

Honorary commanders are local civic leaders and influencers who are each assigned to an Academy mission commander, with the intention of strengthening community relationships through experiencing life at the Academy, according to the Air Force Academy’s statement last month. After experiencing a deep dive into life at the Academy, honorary commanders are asked to share what they learned about how the Academy accomplishes its mission with their own networks and communities.

The honorary commanders were inducted on Oct. 31 in Polaris Hall, an amphitheater on the Academy’s base.

The Academy’s Directorate of Strategic Communications established the Honorary Commander Program in 2018, with 14 Colorado Springs leaders and influencers. There were 22 Honorary Commanders serving in the second term, which began in 2020 and ends this year.

Other community members named to this upcoming term include Susan Edmondson, the  president and CEO of Downtown Partnership of Colorado Springs, Martin Wood, the senior vice chancellor of University Advancement at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, and Ron Fitch, the vice president of Operations and Military Affairs at UCHealth Memorial Health Systems.