Veteran Roundtable Discussion with President Burwell

On November 1, VAN hosted this event, which serves as an opportunity to connect with the AU community to identify, acknowledge, and respond to topics affecting current members of the veteran and military-affiliated communities at American University. The Veterans Alumni Network was grateful to university leadership for the opportunity to engage in conversation, particularly to support student veterans.

Special thanks to President Sylvia M. Burwell and Dr. Fanta Aw, vice president for undergraduate enrollment, campus life and inclusive excellence, as well as to program participants for their thoughtful contributions to the conversation: Steven Betsch, veteran services coordinator; Dymeah Casey, SIS/BA ’21, SPA/MA ’23; Will Hubbard, SIS/BA ’11; Erica Lesto, CAS/MA ’19; Benjamin Schreiner, SIS/BA ’22, Kameron Smith, SOC/BA ’21, and Kayla Williams, SIS/MA ’08.

If you missed the virtual event, we welcome you to view the recording.

American University’s Veterans Day Celebration

American University has a long and dynamic history with the United States military that dates back to World War I when it briefly served as a camp for the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Even today, there are relics of this history scattered across campus.

While the American University plaque project has done a phenomenal job of documenting and archiving these military-connected items on campus, it is still easy to overlook items such as the “Mark of Commendation to American University from the Navy” and the plaque that marks AU as the “Birthplace of the Army Chemical Corps.”

American University’s Veterans Day Observation, held on November 11 of each year, seeks to make the university’s robust connection with the military community more visible. As an institution of higher learning, chartered by Congress in the nation’s capital, the military community is part of the fabric of AU, and the November Veterans Day Observation demonstrates just that. With attendees from DC American Legions posts, national Veteran-focused non-profit organizations, key leadership from military branches, student veterans, faculty, staff, family, and friends – the day is such an incredible example of what military-connected means and what embracing and lifting the military-connected community at American University looks like. to the Veterans Alumni Network extends special thanks to those who made the event possible. While university offices spearheaded the logistics of the event, the event’s success would not have been possible without the help of students, alumni, faculty, and staff of our military-connected community.