UC president forms student veteran advisory group
By Daily Bruin
Feb. 3, 2014 6:03 p.m.
University of California President Janet Napolitano announced Monday a new student veteran advisory group, another one of her efforts to connect with particular groups of students.
The 10-member advisory group, which includes a student veteran from each UC campus, met for the first time on Friday.
They discussed creating a space for student veterans on each campus. UCLA has a Veterans Resource Center that provides counseling and other services just for veterans, but other campuses don’t have designated centers for veterans, said Robert Contreras, a third-year anthropology student veteran and UCLA’s representative to the advisory group.
The advisory group also discussed how to inform veterans about available financial aid before they come to campus and how to improve employee training to better serve veterans. They talked about planning a future summit for student veterans and support staff to discuss student veteran issues.
Contreras said for many student veterans coming back to school after serving abroad is foreign and intimidating. When he transferred to UCLA from Santa Monica College after serving 10 years in the U.S. Navy, the 31-year-old said he felt isolated in a sea of younger students.
There are only about 100 undergraduate and 120 graduate student veterans out of tens of thousands of students at UCLA, Contreras said.
“When I got to UCLA, it sort of felt like there wasn’t really anyone listening to us, so it was sort of an isolating experience,” Contreras said. “Getting to sit down with the president of the UC system really shows that people are reaching out and trying to make a difference.”
There are more than 1,300 military veterans and about 100 active duty military personnel enrolled in the UC. Officials expect the former to continue to increase in the coming years.
Napolitano said she hopes to make student veterans feel more welcome and ensure their academic success.
“I anticipate that this advisory group will be instrumental in helping us formulate and improve policies that directly affect our current and future student veterans,” Napolitano said in a statement.
Compiled by Kristen Taketa, Bruin senior staff.
