Notes From The Edge - Military Times Edge

Unlike many academic institutions of the Vietnam era, colleges today are reaching out to combat veterans in a big way, with programs designed to help ease these troops’ transition from warrior to student. I profiled a number of these programs recently as part of an upcoming story. What I found in reporting the story, though, was that the programs weren’t just for the veterans. They also were the veterans.

Again and again, I talked to and heard stories about young men and women who, despite other pressures, responsibilities and, in many cases, baggage from war, took time to offer their input and assistance to ensure that colleges got it right for the student veteran.

Some of them, such as combat veteran and former Marine Cpl. Eric Beauchamp, 24, of Montgomery College in Maryland, even went on to found veterans groups to offer further support and assistance. “It was initially to be a social networking tool,” Beauchamp said of the club, which started last summer. “Now it has turned into everything — (help with) medical benefits, funding for school, loans, everything you can possibly think of.”

Similar clubs are springing up on campuses across the country. They may not be advertised on a college’s Web page or profiled in the student handbook, but they are out there, and they are growing in number. The existence of a veterans’ club might not be a primary factor in your decision to select a certain school, but the presence of one sends the message that you would not be alone on campus. It’s military camaraderie, transferred to the academic world.