In the Lowry class this past Saturday, the area that we focused on was discussion of the blog topics. As a group, we discussed the various topics that had been posted in the blogs, and then decided on a few of them to discuss as a group. Among the topics that we chose to discuss was veterans, and the influence that they are having on higher education. A smaller group discussed it, and we were then to discuss in the larger group. However, due to conversations on other topics running over, we never got to discuss veterans, as I hoped we would. I discussed this topic individually with a couple of classmates after class, and they thought it was a good point. I was encouraged to write a post about my thoughts, so here goes.
Recently, and almost in hindsight, many colleges have really been focusing on the needs of the veteran population that is returning to school after serving their country in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Beyond the administration of GI Bill benefits, many schools have implemented programs to address the student affairs needs of this population. Recently, CSU and UNC began offering free tuition for recent veterans. I think that this is incredible! These citizens gave up so much for their country. They deserve our appreciation and support when they come back home to resume their lives.
Before I go any further, I need to offer a disclaimer. I am not whining. I am simply offering another point of view, however controversial it may be. I bring up the topic not to belittle the sacrifice of serving our country in the military, but to offer another perspective. I am in no way anti-American or anti-military. I am truly thankful for the sacrifices that those who have gone before me have made, so that I can live a life of freedom. I am very appreciative for America’s role in the world as we try to ensure freedom and peace for all.
Because of my grades in high school, I was heavily recruited by the military. It was something that I gave a lot of thought to. Both my grandfathers and my father were in the military. The benefits of serving were enticing…help with education costs, travel, camaraderie, discipline, etc. However, as a gay (although not out of the closet yet), asthmatic youth, I was not able to access the benefits that the military would provide. Military service was simply not an option for me.
Does this mean that I served my country to a lesser degree? I don’t believe so. I went to college, paid for my own education, had gainful employment that helped keep the economic machine going, worked in the non-profit sector for a few years. I didn’t make the sacrifices that some veterans made. Indeed, some of them paid for their service with loss of life and limb, and for that, I am forever grateful. But I don’t believe that my contribution to society was any less. It takes an entire society to pull together to make a great nation…military, civilians, blue-collar, white-collar, green-collar. We each make our own contributions to keep things going.
I certainly don’t begrudge our veterans receiving educational benefits; in fact, I applaud it. It was just a thought that gave me pause and made me go “hmmm…”
(Please don’t fire-bomb my house…)
In any truly effective learning environment, there needs to be room for differing opinions, and I appreciate you sharing yours Steve.
ReplyDeleteI think issues like this point out some of the truly difficult decisions that administrators at higher education institutions have to make. If there were unlimited financial resources avaialable, all of our institutions would undoubtedly offer numerous services (to possibly include free / reduced tuition) to several specialized populations of students. Unfortuantely, we all live in a time of scarce resources, so decisions have to be made about who to serve and how to serve them...and that will also lead to some students not being served as we would like.
We discussed this point, albeit not specifically veterans, in a HESAL class last fall. The concentration of the discussion was which student population would benefit from institutional funding and provide the highest return to the institution and community. At the time, we discussed single parents as possibly needing the most assistance and providing the biggest positive influence from the opportunity. At the very least, offering lower cost child-care to aid in budgeting and access. Point being, there’s a case to be made for every student demographic needing more financial aid, services and support. Like Steve, I did not choose this route and worked my way through many years of college. Do I begrudge anyone this opportunity? No, serving in the armed forces is definitely a very dangerous and difficult responsibility. This blog helps me remember there are many people who need just a little extra boost to make their goal.
ReplyDeleteSteve, thank you for your post and your thoughts. I think you bring up some very good points about the veterans and the services we are providing in higher education. I was in the group that you mentioned (the breakout group that discussed the veterans and then did not discuss with the entire group). While this specific topic was not brought up, there were some similar issues discussed. There was a group discussion about the official and unofficial services we are providing for veterans that we do not provide for other students. Some of these centered around allowing veterans more room for racism (because of issues they have had to deal with while fighting overseas), conduct issues being forgiven more easily, extra steps to hand-hold veterans through the processes at the college, etc.
ReplyDeleteWhile most of us stated that we try and treat veteran students the same, (e.g. holding them to the same conduct rules as other college students), there are some clear examples in which the colleges have been more forgiving towards veteran students. Is this the right thing to do?
Some other issues we discussed were around combat versus non-combat veterans, women versus men, gay versus straight, army versus air force, etc, and how each of those categories means that veterans have had different experiences in the military, yet at our institutions it is easy to lump them into one big category and assume we know what services to provide when in fact, some veteran students do not even want to identify as a veteran.
Overall, we had some great discussions about veteran students. Like you said, we want to honor these women and men who served our country, but what is the best way to do that? I believe we are still trying to figure a lot of that out at our institutions.
Steve, you make some great points in this post. The thing that is sticking out to me most is the section in which you talk about your being a recruitment target for whatever factors may have been present. In our student union, and in many student unions nationwide, recruiters are given space and access to our students. I've watched recruiters make promised they can't keep just to have students sign up for something they may or may not be ready to do. I agree that it's important to honor our veterans and provide services. Is it, at the same time, an institution's responsibility to provide our military an opportunity potentially to take away our students?
ReplyDeleteHere is another lens in which to look at colleges and universities offering special benefits to certain populations, in this case veterans. What if the financial and support services have nothing to do with the individual students who fought for our county and now want to peruse a degree. What if the whole purpose of these benefits is to gain positive media attention...not because we are trying to do the right thing by men and women who offered their lives for our freedom, but because… if it looks like we are doing the right thing, we could get certain donors to our colleges, we get our name out their in print and news, and we could advance our schools politically. The publicity of our individual institutions is probably the real motivation, in my opinion..
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