News

Student Veterans Take on Summer Internships Thanks to OVMA Internship Award

Over the 2022 summer semester, eight student veterans at Syracuse University were able to take part in a time-honored college experience that typically eludes non-traditional students–they became interns. They were able to experience the firsthand benefit of an internship thanks in large part to the Office of Veteran and Military Affairs’ (OVMA) Undergraduate Internship Award. The OVMA established the award to eliminate barriers that often prevent student veterans from participating in summer internships and deprive them of one of the most lucrative opportunities for job placement after graduation.

Hometown Hero: Melvin Stith, U.S. ARMY Veteran and Dean Emeritus of Whitman

Melvin Stith was born in Portsmouth, Virginia to Florence Stith and Millard Stith. In 1964, Mel graduated from Central High School in Jarratt, Virginia, a rural farming community between Emporia and Petersburg. Mel went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in sociology at Norfolk State in 1968. After graduating from college, he was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Army’s Military Intelligence Corps and was deployed to the Republic of Vietnam.

Hometown Hero: MSgt Alicia Gopee

United States Air Force, Master Sergeant, and Syracuse University Air Force ROTC Detachment 535 cadre member Alicia Gopee, hails from Brooklyn, New York. Master Sergeant Gopee enlisted into the United States Air Force on September 5, 2005, to become a Personnelist Journeyman, after residing in New York City and seeing firsthand, the direct impact of September 11th, 2001. She attended Basic Training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas, and Technical School at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi.

Hometown Hero: U.S. ARMY WWII Veteran and SU CoL Alumnus, Robert “Bob” Gang, Jr.

Robert “Bob” Gang, Jr. was born on June 6, 1918, in Syracuse, New York. He attended Christian Brothers Academy High School and entered Syracuse University in the fall of 1935. Bob joined the Syracuse University Army ROTC “Stalwart Battalion” program and was a member of the Pershing rifle team that practiced on a rifle range in the basement of Archbold Gymnasium.  After graduation in 1939, Bob enrolled in the College of Law. 

Hometown Hero: Lauren Pyland

United States Army veteran, Syracuse University Army ROTC and College of Arts and Sciences alum, and former university employee Lauren Pyland was born in Watertown, New York, and was raised in the north country town of Calcium, New York. Growing up near Fort Drum, New York, the daughter of two Army veterans, Lauren was well attuned to the unique needs of military service members and their families

Hometown Hero – Pei Ren

Syracuse University Army ROTC Cadet and U.S. Army veteran Pei Ren was born in New York City and grew up in Macon, Georgia. Cadet Ren enlisted in the U.S. Army in November 2015 and served on active duty from 2016 to 2019 as a 35N (November), Signal Intelligence Analyst.