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Departments To Join Forces For Veterans Week
Oct. 31, 2014
SHSU Media Contact: Jennifer Gauntt
The Veterans Resource Center will salute the soldier’s experience with a week of activities that are designed to help civilians engage in “military life” and learn about those experiences, while showcasing to the veteran student population a number of resources available to them.
Veterans Week at Sam will launch on Monday (Nov. 10) with an event honoring the families of military servicemen and women.
The ceremony and display, sponsored by the Bill Blackwood Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas, will begin at 9 a.m. in the LEMIT Building Lobby.
College of Criminal Justice interim dean Phillip Lyons and LEMIT executive director Rita Watkins will provide a welcome, followed by light refreshments and the unveiling of veteran photography and memorabilia that will be on display in the building all week.
At 10 a.m., almost two dozen employers looking to hire students specifically from the veteran population will be on hand for the Veterans’ Job and Resource Fair in the Lowman Student Center Ballroom.
Veterans Week @ Sam
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In addition, other agencies, including SHSU’s Career Services, will be available until 2 p.m. to discuss resources such as veterans’ education benefits, health care and financial planning.
On Tuesday (Nov. 11), the Army ROTC will commemorate Armistice Day with a ceremony that will begin at 11 a.m. at the SHSU flagpole by the Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum. Lt. Col. David Yebra, who currently directs the SHSU High Potential Employee Leadership Academy, will be the guest speaker.
That afternoon, from 4:30-6 p.m. at the Health and Kinesiology Center, students can choose to take a physical fitness test from any of the branches of service for the PT Challenge.
“Students who come to the HKC and complete one of the presented challenges will receive a free shirt,” said Fernando Chavez, VRC director. “These challenges are designed to give the challenger a glimpse of our military men and women’s everyday life when it comes to fitness.”
Women Crush Wednesday on Nov. 12 will include the screening of the documentary “Service When Women Come Marching Home,” which examines the lives of women who serve in the military, beginning at 3 p.m. in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences Building Room C070.
On Thursday (Nov. 13), the VRC will display letters written by soldiers expressing their experiences and other major military events in the LSC Mall Area.
That afternoon, Crystal Justice, a licensed clinical social worker, will discuss military sexual trauma, including sexual harassment and assault, at 3 p.m. in the LSC Room 315.
Military sexual trauma can happen to both men and women and can occur during peacetime, training, or war, and, among veterans using VA health care, about 23 percent of women reported sexual assault when in the military. Fifty-five percent of women and 38 percent of men have experienced sexual harassment when in the military, the National Center for PTSD reports.
“Even though military sexual trauma is far more common in women veterans, over half of all veterans with military sexual trauma are men,” the report said. “This is because there are many more male veterans than there are females.”
Finally, on Friday, the VRC will host a cookout at the VRC Office, at Academic Building III Room 116, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
“The cookout will provide a chance for students, faculty and staff to see the VRC and to break bread with fellow veteran students,” Chavez said.
Throughout the week, patriotic songs will be played at the SHSU clock tower, beginning at 8 a.m.
In addition, leading up to the official “Veterans Week at Sam,” from Nov. 3-7, Kappa Sigma fraternity and Alpha Delta Pi sorority will accept donations in the Lowman Student Center Mall Area for yellow ribbons that will commemorate the service of current military personnel and veterans.
The yellow ribbons will be displayed on trees around campus during veterans’ week and all donations collected will benefit the Red Lion Project.
“Yellow ribbons are a symbol of tribute to the men and women who serve in the military around the world and are generally recognized as a symbol that we ‘support our troops,’” Chavez said. “Students, faculty and staff members should take part in making a donation for a yellow ribbon to show their support for the brave men and women who are serving our country. I would venture to say we all know someone who has served or is still serving in the military today.”
For more information on the Veterans Week at Sam activities, contact Chavez at 936.294.1046 or veterans@shsu.edu.
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