Please find the participating offices, programs, and partners below:

Fordham Westchester
Constitutions will be available at the security desk in the lobby.

“Fordham is a very special place, and the student veterans here at Fordham are a really special group,” said guest speaker Jared Lyon, president and CEO of Student Veterans of America, or SVA. At the group’s national conferences, which draw more than 3,000 student veterans from around the country, “people ask questions about what goes on here,” he said. “They want to learn how they can replicate that at their universities.”

He spoke at the Yellow Ribbon Medallion and Bell Ringing Ceremony held by the University’s Office of Military and Veterans’ Services, or OMVS, in Keating Hall at the Rose Hill campus. At the ceremony, 23 of this year’s student veterans and military-connected students—and also Lyon, a student veteran himself—received a University medallion honoring their service. Afterward, for part two of the recognition ceremony, everyone visited the nearby Victory Bell and stepped up to it, one by one, to give it a ring, cheered on by their fellow student vets.

Pandemic Impact

It was only the second time the ceremony had taken place in this format. Inaugurated in 2019, it was modified for the past two years due to the University’s pandemic-related measures. Matt Butler, the University’s director of military and veterans’ services, began this year’s ceremony by calling for a moment of silence to remember the graduates’ friends and family members lost to the pandemic.

“Graduates, you should be proud,” Butler said in his own remarks. “You have endured many, many challenges, and overcome them all, from dealing with the demands of work, school, family, and other obligations [to]classes converted to online and virtual. You have Zoomed, Zoomed, and Zoomed some more. But you never let any obstacles stop you.”

He noted that the graduates were a diverse crowd that included 88-year-old John Lenehan, a Korean War veteran who began his studies at Fordham’s former downtown division at 302 Broadway in the 1950s and returned to the University last year to complete his degree. Last fall, Lenehan became the inaugural recipient of the OMVS’s new True Grit award, inspired by his story, that will go to student veterans who overcome significant challenges in earning their degrees, he said.

A Leading Chapter

Butler also lauded other leaders in Fordham’s SVA chapter, saying “they run one of the top SVA chapters in the country.” As examples, he noted student veterans’ volunteer efforts to help the victims of the deadly fire in the Tremont section of the Bronx in January; their collections to support Ukraine relief efforts; and their mentoring of prospective student veterans, among other efforts.

Student veterans are at the heart of the University’s “coordinated, full-community approach” to meeting the unique needs of student veterans, he said.

Student veterans at the ceremony represented several Fordham colleges and schools. The largest group was graduating from the School of Professional and Continuing Studies; others were graduating from the Gabelli School of Business, the Graduate School of Social Service, the Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education, Fordham Law School, and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Lyon, in his address, said “thank you for your leadership, your willingness to volunteer on behalf of others.” He pointed to research showing veterans’ high college GPAs and high rates of college completion, and said “you are well equipped with your educations to go on and be the change we’d like to see in the world.”

“Your country needs you. The world is ready for you,” he said. “I can’t wait to see what you accomplish.”

“From a veteran’s perspective, many of us saw and witnessed over the last 20 years how our war in Afghanistan ended. There are a lot of veterans who feel a similar level of understanding and anxiety that the war in Ukraine is causing, and they want to give back to the community,” said Matthew Butler, director of Fordham’s military and veterans’ services. “This particular group of student veterans has been more mindful and engaged about giving back to their community now that we’re back on campus … They are leading the charge.” 

The idea for the donation drive came from Miguel Pinto, an MBA student in the Gabelli School of Business and vice president of graduate relations for the Fordham chapter of Student Veterans of America. 

“It’s hard to turn away from the TV with the images we’re seeing right now. We want to help through a group effort,” said Pinto, who served in the U.S. Navy from 2011 to 2015 and is currently serving as a logistics officer in the Marine Corps. “A lot of this is also personal. We have students who are Ukrainian, like an ROTC student who recently reached out to us to help with the donation efforts, and students who have family in Ukraine. This gives them an opportunity to be involved.”

Until the end of this month, the Office of Military and Veterans’ Services is collecting donation items from the Fordham community. There are four collection bins that are accepting the following items: yellow heavy-duty tape, AA/AAA batteries, headlamps, sterile saline wipes/antibacterial wipes, band-aids/gauze for wounds, elastic bandages and regular bandages, occlusive dressing for wounds, betadine, quick meals, energy bars, water purification tablets, small canned foods that can be easily opened, individually packed nuts or cookies, cotton socks, men’s underwear and T-shirts, men’s heavy-duty gloves, baby diapers, and baby formula. 

The collection bins are located at four different spots across Fordham’s campuses: 

PCS Office at Rose Hill (118 Keating Hall) 

Lincoln Center Veterans Center (Room 145 – 140 W. 62nd St.)

Joseph A. Martino Hall (Second-floor lunchroom – 45 Columbus Ave.)

Westchester Campus: (Main lobby – 400 Westchester Ave., West Harrison, N.Y.)

The donations will be transported to Veselka, a favorite NYC Ukrainian restaurant in the East Village, which has partnered with a third-party organization to send the items to Ukrainians in need.

The Fordham chapter of Student Veterans of America is organizing its members to spread the word and help with logistics and human power. Pinto thanked other members of the Fordham community who are supporting this initiative, including Fordham USG at Lincoln Center and Rose Hill, the student Campus Activities Board, Campus Ministry, the Office for Student Involvement at both campuses, PCS assistant administrator Antoinette Zappier, and PCS academic operations administrator and adjunct professor Grant Grastorf. 

“We want to show people that no matter where you are, you can still show your support,” said Damian Grady, a U.S. Navy veteran and PCS student who serves as president of the Fordham chapter of Student Veterans of America. “We can’t physically go to Ukraine, but in a time of need, we are still here to answer that call.” 

“Juvie has a heart of a servant and is compelled to help her fellow veterans. She is respected by her colleagues and her student veteran classmates as someone reliable, dependable, and trustworthy,” said Matthew Butler, director of military and veterans’ services at Fordham, who joined Segovia at the NatCon student-veteran event in Orlando from Jan. 6 to 8. “Her selection as a finalist speaks to her exceptional leadership and service to the veterans’ community. Although she wasn’t selected as the winner, just being nominated was prestigious and a great platform for her to inspire others to lead.”

Segovia is a U.S. Army veteran and a graduate student at Fordham’s School of Professional and Continuing Studies. In the 2019-2020 academic year, she served as the vice president of Student Veterans of America’s chapter at Rose Hill, where she communicated the needs of student veterans with the undergraduate student government. 

Sixteen years ago, Segovia immigrated to the U.S. with her family from the Philippines. Two months later, she joined the military. 

“A lot of people thought that was crazy, but I thought of it as giving back. I believe that America is the land of opportunity, and I wanted to make sure that I could give back to the country that has given me and my family so much,” said Segovia, who joined the U.S. Army in her early twenties.  

She was stationed in South Carolina, where she was responsible for onboarding incoming soldiers. (She also met her future husband, a fellow service member. They now share a 9-year-old daughter.) However, she wasn’t able to complete her three-year contract with the military. After suffering from a stress fracture that never healed, she was medically discharged from the military with less than a year of service. 

Yet her passion for the veteran community remained. More than a decade later, her efforts at Fordham and beyond were recognized at the NatCon event—the largest annual gathering of student veterans in the country. She was recognized on stage, where she reflected on what it meant to be a student veteran. 

“It was very humbling, being there and seeing my name mentioned among many outstanding veterans. At first, I felt imposter syndrome. It took me a long time to open up about not being able to finish my contract because I was ashamed. But the veterans in my community accepted me and assured me that yes, I am a veteran because of everything I’ve done for our community.  I reached a point in my life where I was able to take credit for the things I have done,” Segovia said. 

At the conference, Segovia formally introduced herself and spoke at a panel about juggling her responsibilities as a mother, student, volunteer, and former service member. 

“Don’t let self-doubt hold you back. Any professional goal, any career choice is ours to make and work towards,” Segovia said at the conference. “If we take away anything from this week, let it be that veterans have skills, and we know how to excel in using them.” 

At Fordham, Segovia currently serves as a veterans career liaison for Career Services at Rose Hill, where she has helped student veterans find career opportunities over the past two years. She has educated employers about veteran initiatives, prepared veterans for the civilian workforce, and developed a student veteran career guide that will be launched this spring. Thanks to her efforts, she has increased student veterans’ participation in events, internships, and career services, said her manager.  

“Juvie has made a great impact and continues to ensure that the veteran community is able to connect with opportunities,” said Cheretta Robson, senior associate director for Career Services at Rose Hill. 

After graduating from Fordham with her degree in organizational leadership this spring, Segovia said she wants to work in a human resource department for a nonprofit. But her ultimate goal is to manage her own nonprofit for fellow veterans. 

“I want to ensure that they have career and educational opportunities in the civilian world. There are similar organizations that help veterans, but not many on the East Coast,” Segovia said. “I want to try to make transformational change in people’s lives.”

“Adaptability is a quality that military training instills,” said Matt Butler, director of Military and Veterans Services at Fordham. “You only need to look at the thousands of service members from active duty, reserves, and the national guard who have been called on to support the efforts in New York City over the last two months, including some from our Fordham community.”

Since the pandemic started, Fordham student veterans have held several virtual events, including an Instagram “quarantine pet story” and a First Friday meetup. But most of the events have centered on career preparation, such as an April 17 event Edge4Vets event. The Edge4Vets program, run by the Human Resiliency Institute at the Gabelli School of Business, helps veterans translate military core values into tools for the corporate environment. Attendees had the opportunity to connect with corporate partners at the event, including Pfizer, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Macquarie Group, and Penske Media Corp.

During a breakout session during the event—which was open to all in the Fordham veterans community—Fordham student Matias Ayala, a former sergeant in the Marine Corps, said uninformed civilians often advise veterans to continue service in the police force. But while Ayala may have been an anti-tank missile gunner when he was in the service, he knew that he had also learned critical “soft skills,” such as communication and leadership, that corporate firms are looking for.

“I went to college before the military and I changed my major five times, so that’s one of the big reasons we want to bring these career fairs to the vets, to let them know what’s out there,” said Ayala, a junior in the School of Professional and Continuing Studies (PCS) majoring in information technology and systems programming. He is the new president of the Student Veterans of America at Fordham (SVAF), which helped bring the event and several other programs to Fordham veterans. “There’s just so many organizations that want these soft skills; it’s really a reminder that there’s so much you learn in the military that can’t be taught in schools.”

Formerly known as the Fordham Veterans Association, SVAF’s name change reflects the group’s desire to firmly align with the national umbrella organization they’ve belonged to for 10 years. In addition to the new name and president, the group also opened the Fordham Veteran’s Resource Center at 140 W. 62nd Street, which is now operating online on Mondays and Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Just like the physical center, vets can “drop-in” without an appointment.

Membership to SVAF has its privileges. For one, the group was kept up to date on SVA’s lobbying efforts in Congress during the first COVID-19 stimulus package. The bill, now law, ensures that veterans’ housing allowances will remain in place through December 2020. The housing allowances vary from city to city, said Butler, and New York’s housing allowance is notoriously higher than most of the country. Butler said that the unaltered distribution of funds allows Fordham student veterans who are already experiencing a transition to civilian life the ability to maintain their newly established roots in the city. In addition, the extension into December entices newly accepted freshmen to consider Fordham despite high rents.

“We all know that the housing distribution rates make our ends meet, without which we wouldn’t be able to be here in New York City,” said Ayala, a native New Yorker from the Soundview section of the Bronx.

Ayala said housing security is an important part of transitioning back to civilian life.

“Even though I do have a family support structure here, I did have a problem with transition,” he said. “I was kind of down and when I found the group it really helped; it was a community that I felt like I belonged to.”

Ayala said he’s only heard of one student veteran at Fordham who left the city during the crisis. That was PCS junior Damaris Gonzalez, SVAF vice president for communications. After quarantining herself for 14 days, she drove down to Florida to be with her family. She soon realized her mistake. She described a jovial, if raucous, atmosphere of kids and grandparents that she’d appreciate at any other time, but as a student taking online classes and completing assignments, it was tough. She was soon on her way back to New York City and another 14 days of quarantine.

“I also work from home for the vet center at Fordham and I basically plan every social event and promote it on @ramvets on Instagram,” she said.

Gonzalez agreed with Ayala that the group provides a stigma-free environment, particularly at the new vet center. But something else began to happen in quarantine she wasn’t expecting. With physical walls removed, veteran students began to reach out to each other more often and at odd hours.

“There’s another stigma that we’re susceptible to being in our own feelings or trying to drown them out alone, and that can be true, but the thing I love about the center is you’re not alone—even if it’s two in the morning,” she said. “Now that we’re all online, I know a least three vets who will be up and I don’t feel like I’m invading that time because I’m up, too.”

She said it’s been tough for her, as a person who has served her country, to be a student on the sidelines during a national emergency.

“I feel a little useless and a little anxious when there are people volunteering; it kind of sucks because I’m quarantining,” she said, though the former military police officer continues to concentrate on her double major in communication and media studies and visual arts concentration in film. She’s also running a bingo night with prizes planned for First Friday Veteran Meetup on May 1 at 6 p.m. And she’s planning a Netflix and Chill session and trying to muster a workout group.

Ayala said that with most students home from work as well as school, there’s more time available to hold events, so the group has been trying to hold about two a week. This week, in addition to bingo night, the Vets in Tech Employer Meetup will be held on Thursday, April 30, at 6 p.m.

He’s also been keeping up with his friends from the service in less formal ways—something he said has been critical during this time.

“I appreciate more all my marines, we don’t even use a calling community or a social thing, we’re just trying to stay in touch,” he said.

Additional resources for Fordham veterans:

• The Student Veterans of America at Fordham on LinkedIn
  • linkedin.com/company/svaf
• Fordham University’s Veterans Page
  • https://www.fordham.edu/homepage/238/veteransmilitary
• Office of Military and Veterans’ Services contact email
  • [email protected]
• VITAL Website
  • www.nyharbor.va.gov/services/VITAL.asp
• Cohens Veterans Network (Mental Health Care Services Online)
  • https://www.cohenveteransnetwork.org/