NOVEMBER 12, 2021 — To thank former military members for their service and their contributions to the university, all veterans at UTSA—students, faculty and staff—are invited to the Veteran Appreciation Event from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Wednesday, November 17, at the Sombrilla Plaza on the Main Campus.
The event is an effort to bring UTSA’s veterans together to network and learn more about the support the university and external partners provide for its military-affiliated community. The gathering will include free food for veterans, a raffle and a resource fair featuring community vendors. The Joint ROTC Color Guard will post the colors at the event’s outset, followed by a performance of military branch songs by members of the Spirit of San Antonio marching band.
Michael Logan ’10, M.Ed. ’11, Ph.D. ’19, UTSA’s senior director of veteran and military affairs, explained that the most significant contributors to a veteran’s sense of belonging on campus include faculty interaction, engagement and mentorship. This event is intended to bring those elements together in a show of appreciation.
“I am proud to serve at an institution that recognizes and celebrates veteran culture.”
“UTSA has one of the most robust military-affiliated populations in Texas,” Logan said. “As a former Marine, I am proud to serve at an institution that recognizes and celebrates veteran culture, and goes beyond the notion of simply being veteran friendly, to be truly inclusive of those who have served, are serving, and their families.”
The university is holding its Veteran Appreciation Event on November 17 so that UTSA’s military-affiliated students and employees may attend without experiencing conflicts with other essential Veterans Day-related programming in the San Antonio area during the week of the holiday.
UTSA has made great strides in accommodating its military-affiliated students in recent years. The university consolidated its many veteran services within the Center for Military Affiliated Students, located on the first floor of the John Peace Library, to guide UTSA’s military community to network, socialize, discover benefits and more easily navigate the institution. Leading up to 2020, the Office of Veteran and Military Affairs (VMA) added new programming, including priority registration and tailored orientation for veterans, veteran resource fairs and professional development and wellness workshops.
The VMA team has continued those efforts through the pandemic. They launched the first veteran and military-affiliated scholarship program in the university’s history and created walkthrough videos for students pursuing G.I. Bill and Hazlewood benefits. They also implemented new student benefit workshops and revamped the Chapter 33 certification process to drastically mitigate the instances of students encountering unintentional debts through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
⇒ Check out this chat with UTSA psychologist Sandra Morissette to learn more about veteran mental health research.
⇒ Find out how poems written by UTSA’s military liaison are raising awareness of military sexual trauma.
About 15% of UTSA’s total student population are active-duty military members, veterans, reserves/guard, ROTC and service-connected family members. There are also 299 faculty and staff veterans employed by the university. UTSA’s commitment to supporting its Roadrunners who have served was recognized by Military Times earlier this year when the university was named a Best for Vets college.
