Student-Veterans' Centers Remain Unfunded in Latest Department of Education Budget

Yesterday, the Department of Education released an itemized budget proposal for FY2010. However, the budget did NOT include the proposed $10 million provision to assist schools in commissioning student-veteran "centers of excellence."

To view the department's summary of Higher Ed provisions, Click Here.

Last summer, AMVETS played an integral role in passing a provision in the Higher Education Opportunity and Affordability Act allowing the Federal Government to commission grants to colleges and universities to open student-vets' centers.

The provision can be found in Title VIII, Part T, Section 873 of the bill entitled, "Centers of Excellence for Veteran Student Success"

Here's a GovTrack link to the text of the Higher Ed bill.

It was the hope of AMVETS that the Department of Education would view this as an important step in ensuring the academic success of our student-veterans, with the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill set to roll out in August.

AMVETS started to muster support in Congress to include funding for Title VIII Part T in the FY2010, and even circulated a "Dear Colleague" Letter with the support of Texas Rep. Ruben Hinojosa and Delaware Rep. Mike Castle.

Now more than ever it is important to let our representatives in Congress know that we support student-veterans' centers of excellence on campuses nationwide. AMVETS asks that you write to your representative and tell them that we support funding for Title VIII Part T of the 2008 Higher Education Act, Centers of Excellence for Veteran Student Success.

This is a small investment in our nation's future leaders, and will prove to be a TRUE stimulus in a time of economic strife.

With passing the new G.I. Bill, we ensured that our newest generation of veterans could go to college. Student-vets' centers will ensure that they graduate.

Giving Credit Where Credit is Due...

This morning, AMVETS Legislative Aide Christina Roof came across a Rutgers University press release published on an online veterans' forum, which highlighted the university's efforts to support New Jersey student-veterans.

Here is the official release.

Unfortunately, the release seems to take credit for the hard work of Rutgers' student-veterans who have fought tooth-and-nail for every inkling of support that the university and Rutgers President Richard McCormick now seem eager to offer.

“As the State University of New Jersey, we want to make sure that we are ready to assist these men and women who so honorably served our nation,” said President Richard L. McCormick.

Oh really? Over the last two years student-veterans at the Rutgers-Camden campus have put in all of the leg work to convince the university that its student-veterans were being treated inequitably.

Veterans For Education, which American Veteran has highlighted on multiple occasions, built up support within the student body and within the community, ultimately forcing President McCormick's hand on veterans' issues. All along the way, V4E faced active resistance from campus administration until they had mustered enough grassroots support to facilitate change. Now the university cannot give credit where credit is due.

V4E and its leaders John Cosby, William Brown, and Bryan Adams, have worked tirelessly with state and federal legislators to allow New Jersey's state colleges and universities to accept military credits as Servicemembers' Opportunity Colleges.

Only after an exhaustive public awareness campaign and letters from legislators at all levels of government did Rutgers and President McCormick decide to act.

Fortunately, news sources such as the Philadelphia Inquirer and the New Jersey Star-Ledger have acknowledged the hard work of V4E in pushing for Rutgers' support to its veterans.

Thankfully, the climate for American student-veterans seems to be improving thanks to the hard work of veterans such as V4E and hundreds of Student Veterans of America (SVA) groups across the country.

Students are also starting to receive the administrative and faculty support that they will need to succeed thanks to the hard work of educators like John Schupp, the founder of Cleveland State's SERV program, which AMVETS and SVA proudly support.

AMVETS and American Veteran will continue to follow the developments of student-veterans' services at college campuses nationwide to ensure that veterans transition smoothly into campus life.

(Photo: V4E student-veterans from Rutgers Camden discuss Servicemembers Opportunity College credits with New Jersey Governor John Corzine. Photo courtesy of Veterans For Education.)

Dispelling student-veterans' stereotypes: Penn State's teaching aide

This video was featured on the Penn State Web site for Counseling & Psychological Services to address "Worrisome Student Behaviors." The link on the Web page was removed last month, but it was preserved on YouTube by the PSU College Republicans, who brought the issue of student-veteran stereotypes to the forefront. A special thanks goes to the director of Cleveland State's SERV program, John Schupp, who brought the video to our attention.

When asked about the questionable nature of the video, Penn State quickly responded to American Veteran's query. Dr. Dennis Heitzmann, Director of Counseling & Psychological Services acknowledged that the video, "may be viewed at worst as unfairly stereotyping members of this important [veterans] constituency." He went on to say in an E-mail that, "...upon realizing the unintended impact on some and the potential impact on others, we immediately removed the video from our website."

Since AMVETS has taken up the cause of veterans' education, the organization has heard from student-veterans across the country about the stigma and stereotypes they often encounter when returning to academia.

Of these stereotypes that AMVETS commonly hears, the Penn State video seemed to reinforce just about all of them: Anger, intimidation, bad attitude, arrogance, academic ineptitude, poor language skills, inability to adapt, self-righteousness, and so on. It appears that stereotypes of the angry veteran have permeated some of the supposed "best and brightest" that our college campuses have hired to mold our nation's youth.

An interesting side-note. I recently was a student-veteran, finishing my degree. From my experience, student-veterans are motivated, hard-working, and outspoken leaders among their peers--usually the type of student a professor would enjoy having in their classroom.

The SERV program at Cleveland State has demonstrated that student-veterans, like any underserved population on a college campus, will succeed in a system that recognizes and addresses their legitimate transitional issues. Programs are in place on college campuses nationwide that address the unique needs of inner-city students, minority students, disabled students, GLBT students, and so on. I've never seen an instructional video on how facutly members should "deal with" these students--that would be an abhorrent gesture--but it seems acceptable when "putting up with" student-veterans.

Thankfully, Student Veterans of America (SVA) has also fought to dispel this stigma through the work of its chapters on college campuses nationwide, and they recently adopted the SERV model as a "best practices" to meet the needs of student-veterans. The VA also recognized the merits of SERV, and I've included their video here:



Studies show that when student-veterans are given the opportunity to succeed, they will often exceed expectations, and Penn State acknowledged that the university values its relationship with student-veterans on their campuses across Pennsylvania.

"The student counseling service has helped scores of veteran students to resolve their unique challenges," Heitzmann said. "We would not want to jeopardize those relationships in any way, particularly in view of the many services we believe we have yet to offer this important student constituency."

AMVETS was encouraged by the swift and thoughtful response from Penn State and Dr. Heitzmann. AMVETS and American Veteran Magazine will continue to work with our partners within the veterans' community, like SERV and SVA, to uphold the honorable reputation of our student-veterans.

Let us know how you feel about this issue by posting your comments below.

-Ryan

(Media: Top: Penn State video about "Worrisome Student Behavior" embedded from the PSU College Republicans' YouTube page. Bottom: Video from the VA's "American Veteran" series highlighting the SERV program from Cleveland State University.)

Magazine Update: Veterans For Education

In the fall issue of American Veteran magazine, we explored the challenges facing veterans returning to college. In the story, we profiled the student-veterans' group, Veterans For Education (V4E), at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

Since last meeting with the students at Rutgers, V4E has continued to work tirelessly to improve the perception of veterans on their own campuses and at schools across New Jersey.

William Brown, a former Navy SEAL who helped to establish the group alongside Army veteran John Cosby, continues to work with newly-appointed New Jersey Congressman John Adler on the Congressman's veterans' advisory board. Leading up to the election, Brown and his V4E colleagues hosted a congressional debate between Adler and challenger Chris Meyers. V4E's work keeping tabs on both Adler and Meyers leading up to Nov. 4, inspired Adler to seek counsel from V4E on veterans' issues once in office.

Brown has also developed an ambitious idea to run across Iraq from Kirkuk to Basra as a sign of good will and to raise funds for Iraqi charities. Brown's idea has been highlighted by a variety of major media outlets, including the New York Daily News and the Boston Globe. AMVETS has offered support to Brown in his efforts to make this run a reality within the coming year.

The current president of V4E, Bryan Adams, a former Army sniper who was wounded in Iraq, has gained significant notoriety in his own right over the last six months through his work with Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA). In the fall, IAVA enlisted Adams' help as its new national spokesman. Adams is featured along with IAVA's director of government affairs, Todd Bowers, in the new Ad Council public service announcement, "Alone." The PSA, which can be viewed below, recently won the 2009 New York ADDY award. Adams is currently also in the running for student body president at Rutgers Camden.



Through the leadership of Brown, Adams, and Cosby; and with the support of the Student Veterans of American (SVA), the veterans at Rutgers have become vocal authorities on student-veterans' issues across New Jersey. V4E has been working for months with the New Jersey Legislature to pass legislation authorizing state colleges and universities to accept college credits from military transcripts, as part of the Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges program. The group is also pushing through legislation that would authorize the state's office of veterans' affairs to assign veterans' assistance officers to college campuses across New Jersey; a story that has been featured in the Philadelphia Inquirer and syndicated on Military.com.

Unfortunately, V4E continues to face challenges within their own student body. Recently, an Army Major visited Rutgers Camden School of Law to inform students about opportunities with the Army JAG Corps. The officer was greeted with offensive signs put in place by a Rutgers student disparaging the honorable service of our men and women in uniform as a method of protesting the controversial "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. Not only were the signs misdirected toward service members, but they also contained racially-charged remarks, out of the context from the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" debate. One military student enrolled in the law school, Vivek Sahani, took offense to the signs and sought to take action with campus officials.

Thanks to Sahani's efforts, the campus is reviewing the actions of the student responsible for placing the signs. Similar protests have taken place on college campuses nationwide, leaving many veterans feeling unwelcome in academia; victims of a debate on controversial policies over which they have no control. Check back with American Veteran to follow this story's developments. In the meantime, let us know your thoughts on the issue, or if you have had similar experiences on college campuses near you.

(Photo: Veterans For Education members last fall at Rutgers Camden, photo by Ryan Gallucci. Video: IAVA's "Alone" public service announcement featuring Bryan Adams, used with permission from IAVA.)