Veteran and military students are invited to the Welcome Back Lunch in the Pierce College Great Hall on Wednesday, Feb. 26.
Those who attend will be able to get reacquainted with peers while learning about available resources on campus.
“This event is one way for the veterans to connect with the campus, to connect with the different services that we offer, and I would like to address them and give them a heads up about new regulations for priority registration,” said Anafe Robinson, director of Financial Aid, Scholarships, Veterans and Foster Care.
The event will begin at 11 a.m. and run through 1 p.m. The students will have access to community organizations including the Chatsworth Vet Center, Sepulveda Vet Center, The Soldiers Project and student outreach specialists from Cal State University Northridge and Cal State University Los Angeles.
“I have a lot of veteran friends who are going to the event,” said Alex Vasquez, a student veteran. “I think it is wonderful that we are getting veterans together and letting them know what the school offers them.”
The keynote speaker at the event will be Levi Kinnard, a veteran, CSUN graduate and CEO.
“Through this event, we are trying to bring back the Student Veterans Organization. We had it three years ago, it was chaptered through ASO,” said Robinson. “The plan is to reignite that organization again so that the veterans have their own club where they can hang out and bounce each other’s experiences and ideas off each other.”
The event is being put on by the Counseling Department in coalition with the Financial Aid, Scholarships and Veterans Department.
“In the Fall, there were about 548 veterans who identified themselves in their applications for admissions. About half came to the veterans affairs office in the Fall to be certified for the V.A. benefits,” said Robinson “A majority of the veterans are under Chapter 33 G.I. Bill which includes post 9/11 veterans.”
About 40 veterans have RSVP’d to the event as of Friday, Feb. 21.
“I think veterans should go [to the event] because veterans should be friends with each other and they should connect with other veterans at the school,” said AJ Khosroabadi, a student veteran. “All veterans, especially combat veterans, I don’t care what branch you are, there is an automatic friendship there.”
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Officials from the Welcome Back event ask that all attendees RSVP on the Pierce website. For further questions, contact the Veterans Affairs office at (818)-710-3316 or pierce-veteran@piercecollege.edu.
