Today we celebrate veterans, especially the many members of our own Fordham community who have served with courage and fortitude. We have more than 300 student veterans on our campuses, about 150 student cadets and midshipmen, and countless others in our faculty, staff, and administration. Fordham has a proud history of educating heroes, including six Medal of Honor winners.

This year, we celebrated 175 years of military service and training. In 1848, anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic forces in the aptly named Know-Nothing party threatened to burn down the Fordham campus. New York state issued Fordham 12 muskets, and lore has it that Fr. John Larkin, S.J., later led students on patrol.

Thus was born our tradition of military training and service. By World War II, Fordham’s ROTC programs were producing more officers for the Army than West Point. Fordham was an early leader in welcoming thousands of GI Bill veterans. We are thrilled to continue to attract remarkable and dedicated veterans, determined beyond measure.

On behalf of all of the rest of us, we thank you, not just with words but with constant efforts to support you better.

All my best,

Tania Tetlow
President

Unlike most federal holidays, we do not move the celebration of Veterans Day to a more convenient Monday because the date itself has such meaning. In 1918, the armistice to end World War I was signed on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. If you have ever been in central London at that moment, traffic stops and the bells toll.

In this country, we honor all veterans today, those who served in combat and those who protected us from future combat through their service. And we remember their families, who also make so many sacrifices.

Fordham is forever shaped by the determination and courage of our own veterans, who served both in peacetime and in combat—from the American Civil War to Afghanistan. Fordham alumni have been awarded six Congressional Medals of Honor and seven Presidential Medals of Freedom, a record probably unmatched outside of the military academies.

For all of the veterans in our Fordham community, you have our endless gratitude, for your service and for the gifts you bring to our community. We honor you today and every day.

All my best,

Tania Tetlow
President

What are the parallels between social work, military service, and Jesuit service? 

The Jesuits were founded by a soldier, St. Ignatius. Serving others is central both to the mission of service members and social workers.

What is lacking in training for social workers as it relates to our veterans?
 
There are many factors involved in improving training and building “military cultural competence” and clinical competence for social workers. Changing the test questions on our licensing exams is one. To my mind, the National Association of Social Workers, the Council on Social Work Education, and graduate schools offering social work credentials, must do more to ensure that appropriate content is being provided, evaluated, and meaningfully translated into a variety of settings, clinical and otherwise.

How do you identify the veterans who is dealing with grief?

Keep in mind that grief is often times a normal response to loss, and that loss isn’t necessarily about the death of someone. It might include other losses like separating from the military or changes in family dynamics. All of this is most likely a healthy process rather than something that should be sensationalized, which happens far too often.
 
Do we need a wakeup call for corporations and nonprofits? 

Basically, the United States has many, many organizations, both government and nongovernment, that serve veterans in some form—so many, in fact, that it can be overwhelming and become inaccessible for veterans and their families. Social workers can help veterans navigate that “sea of good will.”

What sort of veteran would make a good social worker? 

I think all potential students, irrespective of military service status, should consider becoming a social worker if they want to assist other people and communities; if they value advocacy and social justice; if they want to facilitate and/or lead social change. To be a social worker, to me, is to be a doer, to be a change-maker.

But I don’t think that veterans who are social workers are necessarily better situated to work with other veterans than nonveterans.Veterans who are social workers may share common referents with clients who are veterans, which might afford them some understanding of the military jargon and lexicon and perhaps aid them in establishing therapeutic rapport. But there is also the potential for veterans who are social workers to transgress blurred professional boundaries. Perhaps a veteran social worker who has not done the important work of reconciling his or her military experiences into his or her post-military narratives, could bias his professional decision-making.

We have a lot of veterans at Fordham undergraduate schools. What can the Graduate School of Social Service do reach out the veterans in our midst? 

Having purpose matters to many veterans. Some form of service often gives veterans that sense of purpose or mission. Perhaps the Graduate School of Social Service can focus on content and messaging that highlights how graduate degree attainment might be both a purpose and a potential lever for facilitating and leading social change in their communities.