Veterans fight to fit in at college: Isolation, challenges make transition tough

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Veterans fight to fit in at college: Isolation, other challenges make transition tough
Marisa Schultz / The Detroit News
A growing number of veterans of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan are heading to Michigan colleges to cash in their GI Bill benefits, but many say the transition to unstructured college life can be just as jarring as their service overseas.

Surrounded by fresh-faced students who can't relate to their experiences, many veterans end up feeling isolated, unwelcome and out of touch with other students.

To ease the transition, some student veterans and other advocates in Michigan are leading a burgeoning national effort to provide more veterans services on campuses and to prepare colleges to handle an expected surge in GI Bill enrollments.

"Many veterans transitioning to campus will find they no longer have the sense of purpose or camaraderie they used to have," said Derek Blumke, 26, an Air Force veteran and University of Michigan student who co-founded the national Student Veterans of America that's pushing for veterans resource offices at each college campus. "A network of individuals who share similar experiences waiting for student veterans when they arrive on campus is something they need."

Advocates say veterans need help navigating their GI Bill and health benefits, connecting with other veterans and -- for those in the National Guard or Reserve -- working out their academic and deployment schedules.

"There are services available, but they are not enough," said Gerry Schma, a veterans advocate who helped form the kind of office that Blumke has been advocating at Western Michigan University. "I don't think everyone imagined the magnitude of it." Since Sept. 11, 2001, 331,000 vets have used their education benefits at colleges around the nation. Last year set a record for the amount and number of Veterans Affairs education payouts since the modern day Montgomery GI Bill was adopted in 1985.

And that's just the beginning, Schma said.

About 95 percent of active duty servicemen and women who enroll in the GI Bill head to school after duty, figures show. Many of them say their experiences abroad -- with death, discipline, hardship and different cultures -- set them apart from other college students.

Shortly after arriving at Grand Valley State University, Gwendolyn Higby, 26, jumped when a classmate dropped a textbook, her nerves still on edge after five months of dodging mortar attacks in Iraq.

Sleeping in a desert tent with no running water, Richard McManamon, 23, couldn't keep up with pop culture crazes like Facebook.com. "What's that?" he asked classmates at Eastern Michigan University.

And Aaron Mowen, 22, has grown weary of fellow students at Saginaw Valley State University asking him whether he killed anyone while he was stationed in Fallujah. "It's not a cool thing to kill somebody," he said. "It's just ignorant. People are going out to movies and going to the bars and have no thought about what's going on outside the world of campus."

Some colleges add resources
U-M's Blumke has already testified before state lawmakers about the issue and now he hopes to make an impact on the national level. His association is working to become a registered nonprofit and is establishing an office in Washington to be a voice for student veterans nationwide, he said.

Joe Agostinelli, legislative director for state Sen. Jason Allen, R-Traverse City, who chairs the Senior Citizens and Veterans Affairs Committee, said there are questions about whether the state can constitutionally mandate the creation of veterans resource offices, since colleges are autonomous.

"There's some discussion on how to best approach that," he said.

In the meantime, some colleges are stepping up.

Prompted by pressure from Blumke's group, U-M will hire a veterans coordinator to streamline resources in all offices around campus, form a veterans council and work on a veterans orientation.

At Northern Michigan University, the number of students receiving GI Bill funding has actually declined because two National Guard units were activated last summer and about 50 students deployed.

To deal with the transitions, Northern has assigned two former National Guardsmen who are also students to work specifically with incoming veterans, said spokeswoman Cindy Paavola.

Western Michigan University's new advocacy office specifically helps transfer students and military students. It also offers all veterans free tuition for one semester and in-state tuition rates for the remaining semesters, recognizing that it often takes months for GI Bill money to kick in and it doesn't necessarily cover the entire cost of attendance.

Western, believed to be the first school in the nation to offer such benefits, wanted to honor the veterans, regardless of where they grew up. "If someone is willing to serve the country, they are welcome in our state," said Mark Delorey, WMU's director of financial aid.

Schma wants the campus to become more sensitized to veterans' needs. Two seminars are lined up this year to educate faculty about challenges some vets face and how to identify signs of post-traumatic stress disorder.

A newly released study by U-M found that young, white men have the highest risk among depressed veterans of taking their lives. Researchers analyzed data from 807,694 veterans of all ages who sought treatment for depression at any Veterans Affairs facility between 1999 and 2004. In all, 1,683 veterans committed suicide during that period.

In addition to emotionally dealing with their battle experience, veterans often struggle to relate to their college peers.

"You look them and say, 'You are a kid,' " said Joe Divelbiss, 29, an EMU student and Marine sometimes frustrated with fellow students. "You need to grow up. You haven't had any life experience."

ROTC brings vets together
Some veterans, like Divelbiss, have found purpose and camaraderie on campus by joining the Reserve Officers' Training Corps. Through military classes and field training, the program prepares students to become second lieutenants in the Army upon graduation.

Justin Nichols, 25, an Iraq war veteran and Georgia native, chose EMU specifically for its impressive ROTC program. Still, he was joined by students fresh out of high school with no military training.

"Some didn't have their hair cut," said Nichols, a junior, who saw one of his best friends killed in a blast in Iraq.

"They didn't shave. They didn't shine their boots. Their uniform was a mess."

Once he realized they just didn't have the same experiences he had, Nichols said he began to relax and enjoy his ROTC experience.

"I couldn't imagine going to college and not doing this," Nichols said.

"That's my mentality. Even though I'm in school, it doesn't feel like I'm in school. It just feels like I'm passing my time and then going into the military."

You can reach Marisa Schultz at (313) 222-2310.

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