A Student Corps

WHEN GREG AGRON '11 arrived at Dartmouth he wasn't an 18-year-old fresh out of high school, excited and anxious about the prospect of leaving home behind for the first time. He worried instead that he might be the only veteran on campus.

Agron, 24, came to Dartmouth after two deployments in Iraq and one deployment in Southeast Asia as a U.S. Marine. Ten such veteransincluding international students who have served in foreign armed services—came together in fall 2007 to form the Dartmouth Undergraduate Veterans Association (DUVA). They modeled their organization on the Tuck Armed Forces Alumni Association, which invited DUVA president Samuel Crist 'lO and two of his veteran friends to one of their meetings at the business school. "We found a pair of dedicated faculty members [Gene Garthwaite and John Rassias] who also shared a military experience and we were off," says Crist.

Since its establishment the group has organized a BBQ social and a Memorial Day flag-lowering ceremony. "We also organized a very successful signature drive in support of the new GI bill," says DUVA treasurer Arthur Ng '11. "One event we hope to get going is a campout on the Green, to raise awareness about the disproportionate number of the homeless who are also veterans."

For its members, DUVAprovides a valuable socialnetwork. "These studentsreally need each other," saysGarthwaite, who served in the U.S. Air Force from 1955 to 1958. "They are not only older than their classmates but also have had more life experience. Many have significant medical issues, and the College is doing a very good job of seeing that they get the care they need," he says.

"The transition from military to civilian life is difficult, and, with the combined experience of our entire group, we can support incoming student veterans better than we could as individuals," says Crist. "Academia and the military share a mutual misunderstanding of one another, and our group is in a unique position to better inform both."

At the same time, DUVA members will be confronting the academic challenges common to all students. "I will say from having had a number of veterans in my classes that they are always focused, always do their work on time and are always prepared," says Garthwaite. "While it's easy for many student to be distracted by all the things going on around campus outside of classes, the veterans know what they're here for."

Uniform Approach Crist (farright) andfellow DUVAmembers.

HAVE YOU HEARD? Wanted: spruces or firs, 30 to 50 feet tall. Grounds supervisorBob Thebodo is open to suggestions for trees that can bedisplayed on the Green during the Christmas season. "We canharvest larger ones, but we're limited by what we can transport," he says.You can e-mail him at robert.thebodo@dartmouth.edu.