F E A T U R E S T O R Y “IT HAS BEEN FINDING OTHER VETERANS ON CAMPUS, BEING ABLE TO TALK TO THEM AND SPEND TIME WITH THEM, THAT HAS MADE THE LARGEST DIFFERENCE FOR ME.” — DAVID BOYD UMass <strong>Lowell</strong>’s Air force ROTC gather on North Campus. used to discourage its people from revealing their problems; partly because <strong>of</strong> this, many <strong>of</strong> them are still reluctant to do so. Now though, with the new center, they’ll have a place they can come to talk with others who are dealing with [similar issues]. They’ll no longer have to face them alone.” All this is recent history. Only five years ago, a veteran on campus was as likely as anyone else to get lost in the shuffle: typed as a “non-traditional student” or “adult learner,” and grouped with the hundreds <strong>of</strong> others over 25 years old returning to school after working, having children or otherwise taking time <strong>of</strong>f schooling. Then one day, at a luncheon for such students in the spring <strong>of</strong> 2006, one <strong>of</strong> these “non-traditionals” – a young woman, a former medic in Iraq – approached Imogene Stulken, the <strong>University</strong>’s Protestant campus minister. It was this brief exchange, between the student and the minister, that would plant the seeds for today’s SVO. Stulken would recall later that the woman had said, “ I’m not finding much in common with my classmates. I didn’t know when I went to sleep whether or not I would wake up in the morning. I can’t relate to classmates who are worrying about what clothes to wear or what party to attend.” From there, one thing led to another. Stulken spoke with Mary Connelly in the Dean <strong>of</strong> Students Office, who referred her to another UMass <strong>Lowell</strong> veteran interested in forming an organization on campus. Sometime after, in the course <strong>of</strong> working with still other vets to prepare boxes for soldiers and sailors posted overseas, she learned more <strong>of</strong> the needs and wants <strong>of</strong> these particular “non-traditional” men and women. And so it happened, as Stulken would relate it all later – at a celebration for campus veterans in the spring <strong>of</strong> last year: “From one person sharing her story, to one person hearing then retelling that story, to that one listener’s remembering the story and sharing it with one other student, to dedicated students responding one by one – from Brian to Michael to Ted to David, and to many more – a community was formed.” It couldn’t have been more timely. Within just two years <strong>of</strong> the 2006 luncheon exchange that gave birth to the SVO, an epochal piece <strong>of</strong> national legislation – the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act <strong>of</strong> 2008 – had made its way through Congress. Often compared to the original GI Bill that followed World War II, it took effect in the fall <strong>of</strong> 2009, greatly expanding educational assistance for recent active-duty veterans and resulting in an overnight cascade <strong>of</strong> new enrollments – a one-year, forty percent increase in the number <strong>of</strong> UMass <strong>Lowell</strong> students receiving military benefits. The <strong>University</strong>, in a host <strong>of</strong> ways, has risen to meet the challenge. The Standing Committee on Veterans Affairs, headed by Vice Provost Charlotte Mandell, is now in place to raise awareness <strong>of</strong> veterans on campus and address their issues and concerns; a therapist at the <strong>Lowell</strong> Vets Center now spends her Thursday mornings at the <strong>University</strong>’s counseling center to be available to student veterans; the <strong>of</strong>fice <strong>of</strong> the Veterans Benefits Coordinator, Linda Morabito, has expanded its reach and staffing. UMass <strong>Lowell</strong> now has a web page exclusively for student veterans; it hosts a welcome luncheon for incoming veterans in September, and another one two months later on the day before Veterans Day. And then last spring, in a first-ever ceremony, the <strong>University</strong> hosted a reception to honor its graduating veterans – conferring on each one a “challenge coin,” inspired by a World War I battlefield tradition, to symbolize lifetime membership in the <strong>University</strong> community. At the same ceremony, joining their graduating colleagues, UMass <strong>Lowell</strong>’s inaugural-year inductees to the SALUTE Veterans National Honor Society were honored for their achievements. UMass <strong>Lowell</strong> is a charter member <strong>of</strong> SALUTE, one <strong>of</strong> only five in the country. The students honored are eligible to apply for national scholarships that supplement the new GI-Bill funding — or in some cases, are awarded to students not receiving GI-Bill benefits. David Boyd, as SVO president, has been an advocate for much <strong>of</strong> this – and is happy, he says, with the progress made on his watch. Still, like any good soldier-leader, he has one eye out for the unmet challenges: “There are still certain buildings that [some] physically disabled veterans wouldn’t be able to attend classes in. There are issues and services that certain veterans need because <strong>of</strong> their [disabilities], such as PTSD, that the <strong>University</strong> – whether staff, faculty, or students – isn’t yet ready to deal with. And there are some pr<strong>of</strong>essors [who] still let their personal biases and political beliefs affect how they treat and grade their veteran-[students].” But these are battles for another day. And the biggest battle <strong>of</strong> all, says Boyd, as he heads into the final half <strong>of</strong> his senior year, appears already to have been won: “It has been finding other veterans on campus, being able to talk to them and spend time with them, that has made the largest difference for me.” 42 UMASS LOWELL MAGAZINE S U M M E R 2 0 1 1
Alumni Life 44 Inside... FEATURE 47 IN MEMORIAM 48 ALUMNI EVENTS 52 CLASS NOTES TRAVELING THE WORLD Kenneth Tucceri ’06 recently traversed the length <strong>of</strong> the Appalachian Trail — from Mt. Katahdin in Maine to Springer Mountain in Georgia. S U M M E R 2 0 1 1 UMASS LOWELL MAGAZINE 4 3
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