Before the start of the spring semester, students, staff and community members provided a special introduction to Aggieland for students who have served their country.
Vet Camp was hosted by the Texas A&M Veteran Resource & Support Center in the Memorial Student Center Bethancourt Ballroom on Jan. 10. The event featured photos with Reveille, a yell practice with the senior Yell Leaders and opportunities for student veterans to meet with representatives from over 30 university offices, student groups and community organizations.
Now in it’s 10th iteration, the event has been hosted each January and August since its creation in 2013, with the goal of connecting student veterans with available resources ranging anywhere from healthcare and financial services to the campus libraries and Rec. Sports.
“The idea is to make them feel more prepared to start classes and understand where the resources exist,” said Col. Jerry Smith, Class of 1982 and director of the Veteran Resource & Support Center.
The camp is designed to be a convenient, easily accessible introduction to Aggieland tailored to the specific needs of the student veteran population, according to Smith.
“Fish Camp is great, but our student veterans are older,” Smith said. “A lot of them are married, they have kids, they can’t go out for two or three days like Fish Camp.”
George Loveland, Class of 1961, and wife Patsy Loveland, underwrote this semester’s Vet Camp and were honored during the event for their ongoing support of A&M’s student veterans.
“There’s a way to keep them where they can make a good living and enjoy what they’re doing,” George Loveland said.
Tom Reid, class agent for the Class of 1961, said dedication to current and former military members still runs deep for those who attended A&M at that time.
“We’ve been out of school since 1961 and since the Corps was mandatory when the Class of ’61 was in school, we’re sensitive to the [military] since nearly everybody that graduated with us went into the service,” Reid said.
Caleb Cowan served in the Army National Guard as a specialist and said he is excited to explore all A&M has to offer as he begins the transition into the campus environment.
“There are a lot of resources that are available to me, so it’s been great,” Cowan said. “I’m just fully taken care of. The financial stuff, helping you budget especially, how to eat on a budget, how to do everything on a budget. I’m going to use that a lot.”