By T.J. KOZIOL
The Student Veteran’s Organization hopes to be a place where veterans can come together as a support group and grow through community service.
This year alone there are 130 incoming veterans to the University of Tampa, and an estimated 200 to 250 total. SVO, which became an active group on Oct 11 of this year, will have its first public interest meeting this Friday.
Eddie Hoffmann, the SVO historian, said that the group is open to anyone, but it is centered on veterans and spouses of veterans or “anyone using the G.I. Bill.”
Hoffmann said that, a lot of times, veterans need the support of other veterans; that it is, “almost imperative you have the support from them.”
Hoffmann said there seems to be a stigma with the military in that people think “we’re just a bunch of robots or something like that.”
He believes that many veterans want to grow as intellectuals and become more educated. Hoffmann hopes SVO will help veterans feel they are a valuable part of the community.
Along with providing a support group, SVO also hopes to introduce veterans to UT and UT to veterans.
Brian Nathan, SVO vice president, explained that, as a veteran, the transition to a university environment can be difficult and totally different than anything most veterans have gone through.
“It’s kind of weird being the 30 year-old freshman — you get a lot of weird looks,” Nathan said.
Nathan noted that UT doesn’t seem to have a lot of experience dealing with vets, explaining that a veteran’s needs are different than that of the average freshman.
He said that appointments with the Department of Veteran Affairs are very important.
Trying to get faculty to understand is often a challenge, either because of miscommunication or a lack of understanding.
One of SVO’s goals for this year is to introduce the two communities, students and veterans, to each other.
The SVO Facebook page will be up and running in time for their first meeting on Oct. 22. It is aimed to be like any other organization’s page, said Nathan.
He thinks the Facebook page will help organize events more smoothly than mass e-mails.
For more information on the Student Veteran’s Organization, contact them at vetrans@ut.edu.
Why is this on page 5? This is an historic event- the first Veterans Service Organization on campus.
You put an article about the DADT policy on the front page, and tucked this in the middle of the paper. It’s a disgrace.