UMSL fosters a close-knit community of student veterans and dependents on campus. To recognize their unique experiences, the UMSL Veterans Center organized a week of activities, aiming to bring awareness to the student veterans and families that call UMSL home. From military flag displays to a competitive chess competition, UMSL’s Student Veterans Week (April 7-11) brought camaraderie and awareness to the campus.
The week kicked off with an exhibit on the Millenium Student Center (MSC) bridge, showcasing flags from the various branches of the military. Information about the important symbols and colors on each one added an educational element to the display. The military flag display was an opportunity to represent the diverse student veteran population at UMSL. Veterans who work in the UMSL Veterans Center were in attendance to share their experiences and represent their branches.
On Tuesday, April 8, the Veterans Center hosted a casual event in the Veterans Center student lounge in Clark Hall, allowing students and staff to relax and enjoy snacks together. With an array of provisions available for visitors, students could meet the staff that passionately run the center, including the center’s manager, Martina Meng, and Ann Kauffman, the school certifying official. Both Meng and Kauffman spoke to students and the military officials that happened to stop in. Attendees also had the opportunity to discuss tuition assistance and veterans’ educational benefits with resident experts.
Wednesday featured an unexpected highlight–a chess tournament. In addition to being a lounge, math tutoring destination and coffee house, the visitors and staff alike have nurtured a fast-growing hub for chess enthusiasts. To honor the veterans and students who have created this unexpected chess-loving environment, the center hosted a chess competition with an incentive–a $50 Amazon gift card. UMSL Chess Club member and senior, Devin Friday, took home the top prize with second place going to staff member Nik Trammell. Trammell is credited with spearheading the chess-loving environment in the Veterans Center.
On Thursday, the center participated in a Military-Connected Resource Fair. For this event, a variety of UMSL groups showcased their organizations on the second-floor MSC rotunda. Most of the vendors were from military-connected organizations, but others, like Study Abroad, were also in attendance.
On Friday, Student Veterans Week concluded with Green Zone Training for faculty and staff, where a panel of military experts spoke about the challenges military-connected students face while offering resources and valuable information to educate UMSL staff about the lives and experiences of UMSL’s veteran population.
Student veterans at all institutions face unique struggles. Many veterans on campus are in what is commonly called a “transition phase.” They were once in the service, dedicated years of their life to the United States and now require guidance and support while they learn how to integrate back into civilian life. Many veterans joined the military as teenagers, thus challenging the traditional high school-to-college pipeline. While their peers went to college, graduated, joined the workforce and continued down the traditional path, veterans were in the service, often being thrown face-first into adulthood or left with a feeling of arrested development.
Many of the veterans at UMSL were in the service for more than six years, and their career in the military may have included being deployed to other countries or being near combat zones, all while navigating the difficult task of maintaining a work-life balance. Luckily for veterans at UMSL, educational benefits are available that either drastically lower the cost of attendance or pay for it in its entirety.
“The UMSL Veterans Center is a space where veterans are able to create and contribute to a community of individuals who have unique experiences that other students do not”, says Meng.
UMSL’s student veterans are typically older than most first-year college students, and the diverse student veteran population can find comfort in knowing that they have a safe space to talk about the good, the bad and the downright traumatic parts of being in the service.The Veterans Center team does not shy away from difficult conversations; in fact, they welcome them. Fostering an inclusive environment means being open to all the thoughts, feelings and desires of the community they serve.
At the UMSL Veterans Center, the staff members are not recruiters. They are not there to encourage students to enlist. They are there to offer a place for veterans to be able to own their military experience while also being students, parents, caregivers, business owners and beyond. The Army tells you to “be all you can be,” but the Veterans Center wants you to know that you can “be all you can be” while they support you in being all that you are.
