ACUHO-I News Blog

When veterans enroll in college after leaving active duty, they often feel lost and alone. The unstructured, somewhat willy-nilly nature of college life is unsettling after years of strictly ordered schedules and rules in the military. Lingering, sometimes lifelong injuries from their service, both mental and physical, dog them. Other students are at least five years younger, often naive, usually with much less world-experience. At best, their classmates are blissfully ignorant of the combat in Iraq and Afghanistan; at worst, they are insensitive and ask intrusive questions. Classrooms are claustrophobic and loud noises unnerving.

On top of all this, until recently, the veteran’s benefits offered by the G.I. Bill barely pay for two years at a modest community college–if combined with full-time work–which discouraged many veterans from using the benefit at all, even though it was the reason many had enlisted. However the new G.I. Bill covers more classroom benefits as well as books and a living stipend, and an uptick in veteran enrollment is expected in August 2009, when the bill takes effect. The law, and higher education’s embrace of it, is seen as a way to do well by veterans, in contrast to the cool reception many recieved in many venues after the Vietnam conflict.

This New York Times Education Life story profiles three veterans who returned to college after their service, the struggles they encountered and the coping skills they developed. The students profiled needed more academic assistance, ways to manage stress, and support from others in their situation. Veterans in the story established their own campus veteran groups.

Since we know there will likely be an influx of veterans in about 9 months, that gives us time to prepare; to establish support groups (if they don’t yet exist); prep the health center, and otherwise prepare campus to be a welcoming place for veterans. What have you done, what will you be doing? Share ideas here.

Also, stay tuned: The next issue of the Talking Stick (leaving the printer’s as I type) will feature a story on veterans on campus.