Veterans’ Education Benefits
We all know that there are a variety of ways to receive an education using benefits obtained through military service. The following are just a few of them; some may be used with others. For more information on the specifics of these benefits, you can go to military.com, which has many helpful links, or visit www.finaid.org/military/vedbenefits.html. This site gives a brief overview of each of them.
Reserve Officer Training Corps scholarship (US Code, Title 10, Chapter 2)
Selective Reserve Educational Assistance Program (US Code, Title 10, Chapter 107)
Montgomery GI Bill- active duty (US Code, Title 38, Chapter 30)
Vocational Rehabilitation (US Code, Title 38, Chapter 31)
Post Vietnam Era Veterans Educational Assistance Program (US Code, Title 38, Chapter 32)
Dependents Educational Assistance Program (US Code, Title 38, Chapter 35)
I would encourage all veterans to look into what benefits they qualify for, which benefits they are using and which one(s) would work best for them.
Student Veterans Meetings
We are aware that our meeting times, Mondays at 7 p.m., do not work for a lot of you, so we would like input as to which days and times work best. We then can figure out what works best for the majority of you so we can see more of you on a more regular basis. Unfortunately, the Student Veterans’ Organization was denied an office (yet again), so we are still unreachable to the student veteran body, except by e-mail, phone and the occasional meeting at the VRC (providing the key-holder is available, in the event that we have to change days and times for meetings). We have spoken to a few student veterans and two items have come to light.
First, the day and time are inconvenient. We need you to let us know what the best days and times are. You can contact a representative of the SVO anytime at (401) 935-8585, (401) 255-2143 or (386) 216-0562. Until we can get our numbers to a level that RIC notices, veterans on this campus will continue to go unnoticed and unrecognized. This is why we need more members. It is the only way to have a voice and recognition as equals.
Fun fact: Did you know that veterans are covered under affirmative action? Let’s get that voice going and let this campus know that we are here and demand respect and recognition. They wouldn’t have their way of life, were it not for you and I and those before us! It’s obvious that we need to take care of ourselves, because no one else is going to do it for us. Need we mention the amount of guaranteed federal money (that veterans bring in) paying for our tuitions to keep this school running? We have a purpose; we have a mission. We need the resources to make it happen. Our government has stepped up with an improved GI Bill; now we need the schools, our school, to step up and do their part.
Do you have any idea what kind of financial shape this, or any, college would be in without the guaranteed government money we bring in to their coffers? Rhode Island College was a three-building campus until the late ’50s. The GI Bill that our servicemen took advantage of created such an influx of student veterans in the years after the war, the campus had no choice but to expand and relocate to its current campus. It is because of our predecessors, the student veterans before us, that Rhode Island College is what it is today. Think of what we could do for our brothers and sisters tomorrow! Obviously, any changes in the way we are viewed, any policy changes we institute, any stand we take today, will not necessarily benefit us now. We need to come together for the benefit of those to come. Those of us who fought in combat did so largely for the benefit of the people in the other country. We went in and did what we had to do so that others might benefit from our actions. Can’t we come together and do what we have to do for the benefit of our own, so that they can know that after their service, they can get what they deserve? What they’ve earned?
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