Supporting Our Military Veterans
Friday, November 8, 2013

Veterans Day has special meaning for many here at Georgia Tech, as so many of our alumni, faculty, staff and students have served, or are currently serving, in various branches of the military.

Veterans have had a significant impact on Georgia Tech through our more than 128 years. Our curriculum changed dramatically during World War II, and after the war there was a huge influx of veterans to the campus, largely due to the GI Bill. To meet the needs of an expected doubling of enrollment by the late 1940’s, we undertook a massive campus expansion and Tech’s fourth president Marion Brittain restructured his administration.

At the same time, Tech experienced an increase in research, transforming the Engineering Experiment Station. In 1944 Georgia Tech became the first public school in the South to create a Veterans Guidance Center to assist our servicemen and women in everything from entrance exams to counseling. It is interesting to note that the large number of returning veterans led to the creation of Georgia Tech’s Department of Psychology.

Numerous times through the years Tech faculty, staff, and students have come together to create and enhance programs, and to bridge understanding of veterans. We’re still doing that. This past spring, the Division of Student Affairs established a Veterans Resource Center to serve Georgia Tech’s growing veteran population and in September, Dr. David Ross, a 20-year Air Force veteran with a commitment to veterans’ affairs, came on board as its first director.

As outlined in our Strategic Plan, diversity is an important tenant here at Tech and that includes diversity of life experiences. Our veterans contribute to that diversity in many ways. With an average age of 27 for our veteran undergraduates and 34 for graduate students, they are typically a bit older than our traditional students. They are transitioning from a military environment of close camaraderie, where working as a team effort is critically important in what are typically very intense experiences, to a campus environment that is much more relaxed and tends to focus much more on individual performance. But in so doing, they bring a rich background of life and work experiences to our campus that can enhance not only their education, but also enrich the educational experience of their colleagues.

Georgia Tech military veteran’s formed the Georgia Tech Armed Forces Student Association (GTAFSA), and this group has been very involved at integrating new veteran students on campus. They hosted a reception during the first week of the fall semester, attended a Braves game together, met for pizza and most recently marched in the Atlanta Veteran’s Day Parade. In addition, a new Veterans on Campus Employee Research Group focuses on staff veterans.

Last month the Georgia Tech Military Affinity Group hosted a symposium, bringing together faculty, staff, students and alumni to discuss ways to make Georgia Tech a more veteran-friendly campus. Participants worked to identify specific actions that the various components of the Georgia Tech community can take to better engage veterans, whether students, faculty, staff, or alumni.

When I welcome new students to Tech, I often tell them to take advantage of the university environment. For example, we have students from almost 120 countries, with a wide variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and talents. Very few environments in life will offer the opportunities for global engagement at that level. It is the same for veterans.

On this Veterans Day, on behalf of the entire Georgia Tech community, I extend a heartfelt thank you to our veterans who have given so much. I encourage our entire community to create opportunities to help veterans better integrate into the Georgia Tech community. We’ll all benefit.