Editor’s Note: This is the first in a two-part series examining the role and experiences of veterans at the College.
In President Barack Obama’s State of Union address Tuesday night, the commander in chief profiled wounded veteran U.S. Army Ranger Sgt. First Class Cory Remsburg, providing both a sobering reminder of and grateful applause for the sacrifices of American servicemen and -women. Eighteen of those men and women walk around Dartmouth’s campus today, the highest number since 2007.
In recent years, Dartmouth has made an increased effort to actively engage and recruit veterans, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Maria Laskaris said.
“We have been working to encourage interested veterans to learn more about Dartmouth, and we’ve had some success,” Laskaris said.
To increase Dartmouth’s visibility among veterans, the College has partnered with educational consulting groups in the military, community colleges and Dartmouth alumni who have served in the armed forces. The College holds an annual information session in southern California for Marine Corps veterans who are returning from active service. Dartmouth also identifies veterans by connecting with organizations like Service to School, which helps veterans apply to college.
Often, veterans have transferred to Dartmouth from another institution. Many finish high school, serve in the military, then spend one year at a community college or public university before matriculating at Dartmouth. The transfer process, which now includes students from varied backgrounds, was originally developed as a way to bring non-traditional students to the College.
Through the transfer process, she seeks to add another dimension to Dartmouth’s classrooms by accepting students with greater maturity and education from settings beyond the traditional world of academia, Laskaris said. Veterans who transfer to the College, then, provide this perspective.
“They’ve seen more and experienced more of the world, and I think that helps students that are 18 to 22 gain some perspective on the things they’re struggling with today,” Laskaris said. “My hope is that our veterans can provide important mentorship and examples of working through perhaps greater challenges than the vast majority of our current students have ever faced in their lives.”
Former College President James Wright, who joined the Marines at age 17, has continued to actively support the College’s veteran community and has been critical to recruitment.
“My objective has been to encourage these injured service men and women to go on to school,” Wright said.
Laskaris added that Wright has been an institutional and national advocate for veteran’s education. He sought to increase the numbers of educational opportunities for veterans returning from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Laskaris said.
In 2008, Wright advocated the passage of the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill, which expanded the educational benefits for military veterans who have served since Sept. 11, 2001. Wright also worked with senators to push for the expansion of G.I. benefits to private institutions, which was achieved with the approval of the Yellow Ribbon Program, a provision of the billthat allows veterans to attend private universities and graduate programs that charge more than the state tuition cap.
Wright cited the value of academic diversity and an obligation to veterans as driving factors in his push for increased enrollment.
“As a nation, I think we have a duty to do all that we can to support veterans in their transition back to civilian life,” Wright said. “I think higher education is crucial for those that are going to be successful in the world in which we live. If you look at unemployment data among veterans, a lot of it has to do with the fact that they do not have higher education experiences.”
Veteran enrollment rates vary at peer institutions. Harvard University currently has three undergraduate veterans, according to a University press release, while the Princeton Alumni Weekly reported in Dec. 2012 that Princeton University only had one undergraduate veteran last year, then a senior.
The University of Pennsylvania has 35 current undergraduates receiving G.I. benefits, but it is unclear how many of those are veterans or simply dependent on veterans, said senior Cory Boatwright, the founder and director of the University of Pennsylvania Military Veterans Association. Columbia University has about 300 undergraduate veterans in its School of General Studies, a college separate from Columbia College that caters to returning and non-traditional students, according to junior Eric Hines, president of the U.S. Military Veterans of Columbia University.
Over 60 veterans are currently attending classes at Yale University, the Yale Daily News reported. In Feb. 2013, Brown University had seven undergraduate veterans, the Brown Daily Herald reported. The University created an Office of Student Veterans and Commissioning Programs to increase outreach that month.
The article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction appended: February 5, 2014
The College's current number of enrolled veterans, 18, is its highest since 2007, not its highest in history. The story has been revised to correct the error.
