Veterans Day event honors student-veterans

November 9, 2006

Veterans Day is a time to honor those individuals who have served in the U.S. military.  On Monday, Nov. 13, the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater will pay tribute to its own veterans at a 3 p.m. reception in the Greenhill Center of the Arts van Steenderen Atrium.

"Our student-veterans make a wonderful contribution to our campus," Chancellor Martha Saunders said.  "They are serious students who want to make the best of their educations.  We are delighted to honor them for their service to our country and to UW-Whitewater."

The event will begin with remarks from Assistant Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Barbara Jones and Provost Richard Telfer.  Afterward, student-veterans will have the chance to attend a resource fair with campus information about academic advising, financial aid and recreational programs.

"We want to make sure our veterans know there are services on campus to help them transition back to school and be successful," Jones said.

Currently, there are more than 200 student-veterans receiving federal or state veteran's benefits on the UW-Whitewater campus.  Sophomore Casey Derksen of Waupun is one such student.  A member of the Wisconsin Army National Guard, Derksen returned home from the Middle East in August 2006.  He re-enrolled at UW-Whitewater and is in the process of completing his sophomore year of general business classes.

For Derksen, the transition from combat to college has been "somewhat easy."  "Most of the students who find out I've been serving overseas have been kind and appreciative...they'll say 'thanks,'" he said.   But he also added that the pace at which life moves on the college campus is a lot slower than what he is used to in the Army.  "At times I find myself bored."

Derksen's experience isn't all that uncommon among returning student-veterans.  According to Veterans Affairs coordinator Jan Nordin, many student-veterans struggle with the transition back to school.  "They find they have nothing in common with the typical college student," she said.  That's why she, along with Derksen and student-veterans Evan Wynn, a senior, and Christopher Porter, a junior, are working to establish a veterans club on the UW-Whitewater campus.  "It will be a social group where the students can get together in an informal setting and make some friendships," she said.
 
Derksen and the veterans club will have a table at the resource fair on Monday.  He and Nordin encourage student-veterans at UW-Whitewater to stop by the table and consider helping launch the organization in the spring.