A new student organization is giving a voice to Mississippi State’s 685 student veterans. The recently formed Student Veterans Association is still in the early stages of formation, but members are hopeful the group will bring support to several issues facing MSU’s student veteran population.
David Blair, coordinator of veteran recruitment at the Sonny Montgomery Center for America’s Veterans, said the student veterans on campus are looking to build a voice for themselves and help each other out.
“They need a group where they can talk to one another about shared experiences and talk about things that have happened,” he said. “One of ‘Doc’ Foglesong’s biggest priorities was to strengthen [the veterans’]relationship with the university, and this is a big step.”
The association’s founding members anticipate that the group can bring some much-needed attention to the issues student veterans face.
Senior interdisciplinary studies major Frank Wills, a four-year veteran of the Marines, said he hopes the SVA will be a positive force on campus.
“We want to make things better for student veterans at MSU,” he said. “We want people to associate the Student Veterans Association with people who are trying to do good things on campus.”
MSU is experiencing a heavier influx of student veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many student veterans are facing some new challenges upon their return.
One of the most important issues the group will try to improve is the lack of financial aid programs available to student veterans, Wills said.
“When I came to State right after the Marines, I faced some financial problems,” he said. “For those vets who are trying to get through school on their own, there are a lot of expenses. I want [an] organization where someone who needs help can come and leave with money in hand.”
Wills also said he hopes the association will change how the university currently credits military training toward earning a degree.
During service periods, veterans are instructed in a variety of areas depending on their classifications. Using a program called the Army Continuing Education System, military training programs are equivocated into credit hours toward a degree.
Some universities have different policies in which credits are accepted, and MSU’s policy is too strict, Wills said.
Wills said he and other student veterans believe MSU is not accepting enough military credits, forcing student veterans to retake classes and spend more money.
“I was enrolled at Florida State before I decided to come to MSU,” he said. “They were going to give me maximum credit for my training towards their education program. At MSU, they wouldn’t accept a lot of that training and the same education program would have taken me a year longer to get through. This university claims to be a military-friendly school, but the truth is there are some things we need to do to make that true.”
The strict credit policy may be harming MSU’s recruitment efforts on the national level, Blair said.
“When we’re trying to recruit someone to come to MSU, it would be a lot more beneficial to that individual if a lot of his or her credits carried over from service,” he said. “Unfortunately, MSU has a very strict policy where most of those credits earned aren’t recognized.”
MSU would be capable of strongly enhancing its student veteran base if the restrictions on these credits were more relaxed, Blair said.
Senior political science major William Brooks, also a student veteran, said he hopes the association will serve as an independent voice for student veterans.
“We want to be independent from [a] voice that speaks on the veterans’ behalf,” he said. “We want to make student veterans’ lives easier.”
Brooks, who lost both of his legs while serving a tour of duty in Iraq, said all student veterans should have equal benefits.
“When I got back, I got the royal treatment,” he said. “People made an effort to see that my needs were met. All student veterans should get what they need from the university. Everyone should be taken care of.”
Brooks said one of the association’s goals is to get a group together to petition the Mississippi legislature.
“We hope to lobby the state House in order to get undergrad tuition waived at all public colleges in the state for all student veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan,” he said.
The Student Veterans Association has held several meetings and will meet again in the near future to elect officers.
Membership in the association is not limited to veterans. Anyone currently enrolled at MSU that is interested in supporting student veterans’ cause is encouraged to join.