The Student Veterans Organization at Syracuse University (SVO) announced the newly elected officers for the 2018-19 school year.
The newly elected officers are:
• President: Adam Legrand (U.S. Air Force medic)
• Vice President: Nicholas Robson (U.S. Marine Corps)
• Treasurer: Oliver Posewitz (U.S. Navy)
• Secretary: Maria Delgado (U.S. Army Reserves)
Syracuse University employee and U.S. Army Veteran, Jim Hopkins, was honored as “Hometown Hero” during Saturday’s SU Mens’s Lacrosse vs. Navy game.
Jim Hopkins,was born in Syracuse, New York and was raised on Tipperary Hill. Jim attended St. Patrick’s Grammar School, Bishop Ludden High School, Onondaga Community College and graduated from Syracuse University with Bachelor of Science Degree in biology in 1992.
The Syracuse University Student Veterans Organization (SVO) recently hosted its fourth annual SVO Ball and Awards Banquet celebrating the successes of student veterans. Proceeds from the event were donated to Clear Path for Veterans, a local veterans’ resource and community center.
The SVO welcomed Jeff Cleland as the keynote speaker. Cleland, who is the director of organizational excellence with the Maryland State Highway Administration, holds a B.A. in policy studies from the Maxwell School and is completing the executive M.P.A. at Maxwell in December 2018. Cleland encouraged student veterans to leverage everything Syracuse University has to offer and become brand ambassadors for veterans and excellence.
Renderings provided by SHoP Architecture
The first-ever drone flyover of the National Veterans Resource Center (NVRC) occurred on Monday, Feb. 26, thanks to a local veteran-owned business hired to chronicle the historic beginnings of the building slated to open in spring of 2020.
Renderings provided by SHoP Architecture
Annabelle Weiss dropped out of Hunter College in 1943 because she wanted to enlist in the armed services. With her parents’ consent, she joined the U.S. Marines and reported for training at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, in April 1944. There she learned to “march, march, march” and was assigned to inspect airplane engines. Weiss was later assigned to Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina. She served in the transportation unit, where her tasks included chauffeuring the base’s commanding officer. She was discharged in 1946.
Chancellor Kent Syverud and leaders from Syracuse University and its Office of Veteran and Military Affairs will be joined by special guests, alumni, community members and educational partners to host the 101st Annual Chancellor’s Review. The celebration includes an awards ceremony and public review of the ROTC cadets in the Carrier Dome on Friday, March 9, at 10 a.m.
“Syracuse University’s ROTC cadets are smart, hardworking and civic-minded,” says Chancellor Syverud. “They have a deep sense of purpose, and they make the campus community a better place. It is a privilege to help prepare them for national service. And we will be here to support them when they return to civilian life, through our National Veterans Resource Center and other veteran-focused initiatives.”
Syracuse University, via its Academic Strategic Plan, is committed to building on its long legacy of supporting the nation’s veterans and military families. For example, the University has the longest, continuously running Army ROTC program and is consistently placed among the best universities for veterans rankings.
Celebration attendees will view the current ROTC members perform drill and ceremony in formation as they are reviewed by Chancellor Syverud. Cadets will also be presented with awards celebrating their many achievements throughout the year. The 10th Mountain Division Band from Fort Drum, New York, will provide music during the ceremony.
The annual Chancellor’s Review is open to the public. All members of the Syracuse University community are encouraged to attend the event. Parking will be available in the Irving Garage. Please call ahead with special parking needs. Attendees may enter the Carrier Dome through Gates A, B, C and E.
“Gateway for America’s Veterans,” a video produced by the team in the University’s Office of Electronic Media Communications (EMC), has received an Emmy nomination from the New York Chapter of The National Association of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS).
The video tells the story of Syracuse University’s historic commitment to generations of the nation’s veterans. Created in partnership with the University’s Office of Veteran and Military Affairs (OVMA), the 10-minute production helps further the University’s outreach and advance its mission of assisting veterans in pursuing their education after separating from military service both academically and personally.“We’re pleased that NATAS has recognized our team with this honor,” says EMC Executive Director and Producer Stu Lisson. “The New York chapter is the most competitive in the nation, with affiliates from all of the major networks taking part.”
“With its longstanding commitment to veterans, Syracuse University continues to be uniquely positioned to educate and empower this generation of veterans, military-connected students and family members and positively impact the future leaders of our nation through higher education,” says Ron Novack, OVMA executive director. “So we are proud of the recognition for the video that is such a valuable tool, helping us tell our story and reinforce our commitment to being the ‘best place for veterans’.”
Between 1945 and 1950, the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the GI Bill, supported some 2.3 million students nationwide. Few universities in the country were more closely identified with the GI Bill than Syracuse University. Chancellor William Tolley promised servicemen and women there would be places waiting for them at the University when they returned, and enrollment more than tripled in the years immediately after the war. Syracuse then ranked first in New York State and 17th in the country in veteran enrollment and today, the University ranks continually in the Top Ten. Syracuse University continues to remain deeply committed to the military, veterans and family members and this video captures the outstanding support military-connected students receive while attending the university. It also gives veterans an opportunity to “tell their story” about transitioning from military to campus life.
Producer Meg Lynch adds, “It was a privilege to help tell Syracuse and OVMA’s remarkable story and document the inspiring comments from the program’s veterans.”
This is the sixth consecutive year that the EMC team has received an Emmy nomination for production excellence.
Leaders from Syracuse University’s Office of Veterans and Military Affairs (OVMA), Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF), Career Services, Veterans Affinity Group, and the Veterans Resource Center attended the 2018 NASPA Symposium on Military-Connected Students in New Orleans, Louisiana, recently. Hosted annually, the NASPA Symposium on Military-Connected Students focuses on effective strategies to serve and support the success of veterans and other military-connected students.
The three-day conference consisted of breakout sessions geared toward administrators in higher education for training, resource sharing and fact-finding about opportunities and advancement of student veterans within the institutions of higher education.
Syracuse University leaders shared “best practices” with other universities on making professional graduate degrees more veteran-friendly, including a presentation about the VET-MGMT project by the IVMF funded by the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) from 2014-2017. The goal of this project is to develop accelerated and stackable graduate degrees at Syracuse University for student veterans. The “Advancing Veterans Success in Higher Education” report was one of the outcomes of the VET-MGMT and was leveraged in highlighting the “best practices” at NASPA.
The SU team also presented a detailed poster outlining a simulation project currently underway on the campus. The “VET-SIM: Designing Simulations to Support Transitions from Military Service to Collegiate Study” is an effort to support veterans and strengthen their pathways through collegiate study. Professor Benjamin Dotger, with the support of Syracuse University’s School of Education is partnering with the IVMF, and OVMA to design and implement a VET-SIM, a simulation model of real-life challenges experienced on campus by student veterans to help veterans navigate and overcome barriers to collegiate success.
“It is critical to be present at conferences, such as NASPA, to share best practices as well as learn what others are doing within higher education serving our nation’s veterans and military-connected students,” says Ron Novack, OVMA executive director. “During NASPA, I made many great connections with my peers from other academic institutions, shared ideas and brought back to campus additional ideas to assist in solidifying our commitment in making Syracuse University the ‘Best Place for Veterans.’ It was great to hear many colleagues in higher education are using IVMF’s research and using our university work as best examples in the nation serving those who have served.”
