The New School will open a center for veterans services to support military-connected community members next spring, university officials announced earlier this National Veteran and Military Families Month. 

Spearheaded by Director Betsy Montañez and supported financially by the Expanded University Budget Committee, the center plans to offer support through augmented advisory services and foster community by providing a physical space in Fanton Hall for veterans and military-connected students to congregate. “The center is poising itself to be a one-stop shop so we can support our military-connected students through their journey to graduation,” Montañez said. 

Many veterans have their academics interrupted when they’re deployed or have to leave their homes to serve, and returning to a classroom setting can be confusing and stress-inducing, according to Montañez. “It’s a whole new language,” she said. The center hopes to play the role of a translator. 

Additionally, military dependents or family members of veterans are prone to constantly packing up and moving as a result of redeployments, which often disrupts their education. “It’s difficult to even just get transcripts because nobody understands why the grading system is different from one school to another,” Montañez said. 

Mick Hill, a veteran who is in the midst of his first semester as an undergraduate student at TNS, shared his previous difficulty with navigating higher education. He is currently studying under a self-design major of film and media with a concentration in directing and producing after transfering from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. “When I got out in 2012, I did go to school because I thought that was what I was supposed to do. Now I have three degrees in things that I really don’t want to do,” Hill said. The center’s programming hopes to help veterans like Hill realize their academic goals earlier in their college careers. 

While TNS has several options for military connected students like BPATS – the Bachelor’s Program for Adults and Transfer Students established in 1943 at the Schools of Public Engagement — there has been a lack of expertise in Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) subject matter according to Montañez. 

To bridge that gap, the center is employing a robust team of people who are familiar with the regulations of the VA. For instance, Associate Director Ida Chan acts as the School Certifying Official in charge of processing VA education benefits for students who wish to use them. In order for VA education benefits to be granted, the course work and tuition fee of the military-connected individual must be certified to ensure that all of the VA requirements are met.

“[The VA] is cutting checks and providing that tuition. It is a big government conglomerate. And so with that comes all the government red tape that we’re so used to. So the center is here to kind of break that down,” Montañez said. The center is working with a career counselor and an onboarding coach who will support academic advising for veterans to guarantee that their degree plans align with the requirements of the VA. 

The center will also help students transfer any military training into college credits which may be applied to their major. For example, if a student received foreign language training while they were serving, that education can count toward their degree.  

Given that the VA is tied to the United States military, the services provided by the center are predominantly catered to veterans having served in the U.S. military. International veterans are not subject to the restrictions of the VA, but Montañez told The New School Free Press, “we’re absolutely open to and looking to see how to partner and support those students.” An emphasis on broadening the military-connected community is one way the center hopes to include all veterans, no matter their origin. 

“In addition to providing all the support services, it’s a place where hopefully they can come and start making connections with each other,” Montañez said. 

Though the physical space will not be available until the spring semster, the center held a Veterans Day celebration on Nov. 10 to honor those who have served. The event welcomed the center’s first keynote speaker, Dr. Lessie Branch, a Navy veteran who completed two master’s degrees and her PhD at TNS.

Conversations trickled through the small gathering and tri-colored balloons littered the ceiling of the Faculty Lounge at the University Center, as the center laid its foundation for the work they hope to do to reinforce a community among veterans and military-connected students, faculty, and staff at TNS.

The center also hopes to connect veterans with resources outside of the university, specifically non-profit veteran service organizations (VSOs). Fiore Sireci, a current part-time professor of writing and liberal studies for graduate students at Parsons School of Design works with a VSO called the Warrior Scholar Project and was present at the Veterans Day luncheon. Sireci said the opening of the veterans center is in line with the university’s mission. “It connects to the real heart of The New School, which is serving the community,” he said. “Our progressivism is progressivism in action. That’s why it’s called a school for public engagement.” 

The center also hopes to dissolve what Montañez refers to as the “civilian-military divide,” the public dissonance created by the perpetuation of common misconceptions about life in the military for service members and their families.

“Given that The New School is The New School, they’re very progressive and left-leaning. And when people tend to think of the military, they tend to think conservative and more right of center,” keynote speaker Dr. Lessie Branch said, alluding to one of many assumptions that can reinforce a “civilian-military divide” at TNS. 

Welcoming veterans into academic settings is one of many ways to bridge the divide. “Imagine how powerful and valuable it is for young people to have mixed with people that are awesome and inspiring and full of life experience,” Sireci said, noting the unique perspective veterans bring to a classroom from their time in service abroad or within the U.S. “A lot of these people are injured. They have trauma. But that all adds to what they can contribute to us.”