Fifteen veterans were on the Amherst College campus earlier this month getting a feel for what it will be like to return to the classroom.
They will enroll in colleges soon, using educational benefits they earned through their military service, but it has been years since they’ve had to think about taking notes, writing papers and studying for exams. Their brief but intensive time at Amherst was a sort of academic boot camp to help get them ready.
Immersing them in academia for a week — they are required to bunk on campus, too — is intended not only to give them a boost in study skills, but also a heads-up on what it takes to fit in on a campus, a sea change from barracks and battlefields. Run by the Warrior-Scholar Project, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C., the program also offers them continued support.
It’s a great idea.
The vets who came here seemed to think so, too, based on the enthusiasm they expressed to Gazette reporter Dusty Christensen.
Giving veterans the chance to go to college on the government’s dime is not only good for them, and society — it’s an effective recruiting tool for the military. In a 2015 survey by the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University, 53 of the respondents said that educational benefits were the primary reason they enlisted.
Providing them a hand to succeed is a logical move, a crucial piece to make the gesture meaningful. By the time they are out of the service and ready for school, these men and women — some of whom had not been inspired by academics in the past — have big adjustments to make. One challenge that may be overlooked is the need to move from a regimented environment where individuality is discouraged to one where it is key to thriving.
Amherst College was one of 15 schools participating this summer in the Warrior-Scholar Project. The program, which is funded through donations, hosted 250 veterans nationwide.
The men and women who came to Amherst spent their jam-packed days taking seminars on scholarly topics — such as ancient Greek democracy — attending classes on writing, analytical reading and other study skills, and hearing from veterans who are students describe the challenges they will face.
In addition to Amherst, some of the best universities in the country are involved, including Harvard, Yale, Cornell, MIT and Princeton. The students are not obligated to apply to these schools, but they can. The schools view them as desirable students given their experience with leadership and collaboration, says Katie L. Fretwell, Amherst’s dean of admissions and financial aid. “We’re eager to attract the talent among these veterans,” she said.
The number of students using post Sept. 11, 2001, GI Bill benefits to attend Amherst College is just five out of 1,800 students this year. The figures are comparably low at the other Five College schools with the University of Massachusetts Amherst having the highest number, 326 out of 22,000 students.
Sidney Ellington, the Warrior-Scholar Project’s executive director, says schools are eager to be involved and more will be added if more funds are raised.
“They’re an ideal college candidate at this point,” he says of the veterans, “but still they’re carrying all that baggage with them from previous experience and their belief in themselves is very limited.”
Retired Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Alex Baran, 30, who did two tours of duty in Afghanistan, expressed those insecurities during his week at Amherst College.
He was worried about handling the academics. He was concerned about fitting in. He hadn’t had the grades or the money to attend an elite school after high school, and “nobody would have invited me here,” he said.
Now, Baran is applying to Amherst, Columbia, Williams and Princeton. He has a long road ahead of him, but the Warrior-Scholar Project is not only giving him a good start, it’s offering to stay with him and the others along the way. That’s a smart approach.