Selma is no stranger to being a part of history and on Wednesday morning, it got to witness a little bit more.

Concordia College-Selma held its first ever Army ROTC promotions ceremony in Wright Auditorium.

“This is a very emotional time for me,” said Lt. Col. Nicolas Britto, Assistant Professor of Military Science at Concordia

The Army ROTC program began in September with the help of former CEO Dr. Portia Shields and Lt. Col. Britto.

The guest speaker of the event was Selma native Brig. Gen. Sheryl E. Gordon of the Alabama National Guard.

“Growing up in Selma, I was able to see history take place,” said Gen. Gordon, “Now I’m getting to watch history being made today with the first four-year ROTC program in Selma.”

Gen. Gordon is no stranger to making history either; she was the first woman to ever rise to rank of general in the Alabama National Guard.

During the promotion ceremony, even more history would be made when Cadet Elise Minor of Selma became the first female cadet captain in Alabama.

“It was outstanding,” said Minor of when she learned that she would be honored.

Elise was not the only Minor to be promoted during the ceremony.

Her older twin sister Erica was also promoted to the rank of cadet 1st Lieutenant.

“I was very excited” said Erica of her accomplishment. “This was the next step in my military career.”

The sisters have been enrolled in the National Guard for the past four years.

Johnathan McNear was another one of the cadets who was honored at the ceremony.

“It’s just great to be a part of this historic event.” said McNear, who was promoted to 1st Sergeant. “I saw a lot of good come through this first semester.”

McNear is also a member of the 1151st Engineering Battalion and is expecting to be shipped overseas to Afghanistan within the next two years.

There were three other promotions that took place on Wednesday morning.

Cadets Marcus Pollard, Charles Wallace and Gerral Pinkston were all promoted to cadet sergeant during the ceremony.

“It was completely unexpected” said Pollard. “I heard my name a just said “Whoa”.”