Editor’s Note: This is the second article in a two-part series examining the role and experiences of veterans on campus. Part one was published on Jan. 31.
Before coming to Dartmouth, Christopher Allen ’15 spent a year patrolling the streets of Iraq as a combat engineer, searching for improvised explosive devices that he was responsible for disarming.
Allen, like the other seventeen veterans on campus, is a nontraditional student who opted out of the conventional college pipeline to serve his country.
“I believe that if there are wars going on right now, I should do that first,” Allen said. “I didn’t want to go to college and miss helping the guys that were already over there.”
The 18 veterans currently enrolled at the College represent the highest number since 2007.
Upon graduating from high school, Mike Ballard ’16 received a partial football scholarship to Concordia University in Austin, Tx. After a semester of partying with teammates and skipping early morning classes, he took his coaches’ advice and withdrew from school. That semester was characterized by a lack of maturity and focus, he said.
Ballard decided to enlist in the Marine Corps, following in the footsteps of his father. After spending two years as a mechanic in California and North Carolina, he served the next three years as an embassy guard in Uganda, France and Chad. He then began thinking about returning to the U.S. to continue his education.
A year before discharging, Ballard decided he wanted to play college football. He found that Texas Tech University was a good fit and was one of 10 walk-ons to make the team, but a shoulder injury ended his dream of playing Division I football before he ever took to the field.
Ballard decided he wanted a more academically rigorous school, one that was more considerate of his unique circumstances as a veteran, so he transferred to Dartmouth.
“I wanted to come here because being a veteran is important to me,” Ballard said. “I emailed people here at Dartmouth, and they got back to me right away. They told me about the people in veteran affairs and that we have a veteran group here that is growing.”
Being a veteran and an older student on campus presents a unique set of challenges. Allen said he was anxious about the role his age would play.
“I was a little nervous being the third-oldest undergraduate on campus,” he said. “I wasn’t sure how I was going to fit in, but I’ve had a great experience. Nothing has made me feel like I was a different type of student.”
Ballard, however, points to the age difference as a key factor in making life a little tougher.
“If you’re not a veteran, you won’t fully understand what it’s like,” Ballard said. “It’s hard to relate sometimes to people who are younger than you.”
When he first arrived on campus in the fall, Ballard said he considered transferring to Columbia University. Socially, he saw Columbia as a better fit, with a larger pool of graduate students and people his own age, located in an urban environment. He said he submitted a transfer application before reevaluating the decision and realizing that Dartmouth was the best place for him.
“In the end what really kept me here was the fact that Dartmouth wanted me to be here,” Ballard said. “They wanted veterans to come here and somebody to share that experience with the school and the community.”
Ballard also pointed to the supportive veteran presence on campus as a reason for staying in Hanover.
Allen said he has seen the community grow over the years. When he arrived in Hanover three years ago, Dartmouth had seven veterans. The Dartmouth Undergraduate Veterans Association, of which Allen is now president, was a social club that met bi-weekly at Ramunto’s for pizza and beer. Now, club membership has more than doubled — an ideal size for holding events and raising awareness on campus.
Last term, DUVA held its annual Veterans Day Banquet, attracting about 135 people.
This term, the club plans to show documentaries from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, followed by a question-and-answer session with veterans who served in those conflicts, Allen said. Among the documentaries is “The Battle for Marjah” (2011), an expose detailing a key battle in the Afghanistan War.
The club is currently planning a trip to Boston to visit the Freedom Trail and USS Constitution. Over spring break, a few veterans plan to travel to a Maryland military base to speak about the possibilities Dartmouth offers, Ballard said.
This kind of programming is what convinced Ballard to remain a student at the College.
“The longer I’m here, the more I fall in love with Dartmouth,” he said. “I’m glad I’m here, and I’m glad I stayed.”
Veterans also commented on how accommodating the College is.
Craig Serpa ’16 spent nine years in the military, the longest stint of all undergraduate veterans, before matriculating at Dartmouth.
After meeting former College President James Wright at an event for Marines, Serpa’s interest in Dartmouth peaked. He excelled in junior college and was admitted in the fall.
Serpa, who is involved in DUVA, said members of the College administration, professors and students are open to talking to him about his experience as a Marine. Aside from living off-campus, nothing about the school makes him feel any different, he said.
“I’m receiving the same experience as an 18-year-old kid coming out of high school,” Serpa said. “Which is really cool.”
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.
