Wars might mostly be fought on the
battlefield, but many student veterans
find themselves battling for better
benefits at VCU.
James Chambliss, Student Veteran
Association adviser and veteran affairs
coordinator, said an important issue
affecting student veterans is military
educational entitlements, or federal
money used to pay for education.
Chambliss said when student veterans
pay for benefits, the money counts
against them when applying for financial
aid. This is because the government
considers the money to be a part of a
veteran’s income.
As a result, student veterans’ financial
aid is reduced.
“It is not fair,” Chambliss said. “How
can you call it a benefit when the money
is coming out of my own pocket?”
The SVA was started 30 years ago.
It is not a political organization but a
support group for veterans and veteran
supporters.
“One issue on the association’s
agenda is VCU’s lack of participation in
veteran programs,” said Keia Watkins,
SVA president.
One of the programs for which the
association seeks VCU participation
is the Service Members Opportunity
College. The SMOC is a network of
colleges that accept military work for
college credit.
Concurrent admission, or the guarantee
of admittance to students returning
from war, is another program that SVA
wants VCU to implement.
“I believe VCU should participate in
these programs because it helps (student
veterans) to have a smooth transition,”
said Saif Khan, a former SVA member.
Associate Vice Provost Delores Taylor
said although VCU is not implementing
these veteran programs, there is
nothing to stop the university from
participating.
“I don’t think funding is an issue,”
Taylor said. “Is it something
that’s going to benefit prospective
students, veterans and the university?
All of those things would have to be
reviewed.”
However, Chambliss said these
veteran programs would benefit VCU
because they would bring more student
veterans to the school.
“The university is losing a certain
amount of the veteran population
(because) they go elsewhere,” Chambliss
said. “(The university) is losing dollars,
so it doesn’t make a lot of sense.”