On Sept. 1, Anne Hudak began her new role as assistant dean for undergraduate veterans. Hudak assumes the newly-created position following her five years of experience as an assistant dean of the Dartmouth undergraduate student body. Prior to being an assistant dean, Hudak served as an academic resource for student athletes at Dartmouth.
The new role will entail supporting the 36 undergraduate veterans at Dartmouth in their academic and extracurricular pursuits as well as partnering with the admissions office to recruit prospective veteran students, Hudak said. She added that she hopes to connect undergraduate veterans with unique post-service opportunities available to them and help them with issues that other undergraduate students may not face.
“As veterans, many of these students have other opportunities off campus that it’s helpful for an undergraduate dean to be aware of,” Hudak said. “Many of them are slightly older [than other students] and may have families or be living off campus.”
Hudak said that she believes it is important for someone in Dartmouth’s administrative staff to be familiar with veterans’ unique situations and connect veteran students with resources they need, such as housing or childcare.
Zachary Jaynes ’21, an undergraduate veteran, said that the creation of the position was a positive step for the veteran community at Dartmouth.
“We do have a lot of unique problems that Dartmouth doesn’t really address,” Jaynes said. “We have more paperwork issues and issues with financial aid, and many of us are older and have families or are in the reserves and may have to take a year off to go back to service.”
The College previously partnered with the Posse Veterans Program to admit three cohorts of veteran students to Dartmouth, according to Hudak. The Posse cohorts had two professors, classical studies professor Roberta Stewart and writing professor Carl Thum, as their main resources to help with veteran-specific issues on campus. Hudak said that Dartmouth will no longer partner with Posse in the future.
Director of admissions Paul Sundeadded that although the College will no longer be partnering with Posse, it will continue its efforts to recruit veteran students with Hudak’s help.
Although Hudak will now serve as the primary resource for veteran students, current members of Posse cohorts will still have access to their professor advisors, Hudak said.
“Having a dean is an extra layer of help,” Taynes said. “A dean approaching the administration instead of a professor puts more weight behind us.”
Besides supporting current undergraduate veterans, Hudak will also serve as a resource for prospective veteran students who are considering applying to Dartmouth. She said that she will be the main contact for prospective students with questions about the resources, opportunities and communities available to them as veterans at Dartmouth.
Sunde said that the admissions office’s partnership with Hudak will offer prospective veteran students the chance to ask specific questions about the veteran Dartmouth experience.
“We do a lot of partnerships,” Sunde said. “For example, we have open houses and faculty who will speak about their discipline or research. I think it’s a wonderful benefit for prospective students to have access to the folks who might be teaching them. Similarly, [Hudak’s new position] represents an opportunity for us to aid prospective students who have questions about the veteran experience that go beyond our expertise.”
Eileen (Eily) Brady is a '21 from Chicago who studies government and romance languages. Eily loves travel, politics, iced tea and her dogs, Mac and Charlie. She is thrilled to be reporting the news for The Dartmouth.
