Doctoral student Darrin Kowitz is establishing the University's first organization for veterans.
Kowitz said he served in the Army in the '90s and wants to help veterans make the transition from the military to academics.
"I've got about 50 veterans in my e-mail so far that are students of UNM," he said. "We want to get the word out to as many people as possible. Our meeting is (tonight) where we're going to actually charter the organization, choose officers and pass the bylaws and all that stuff."
The group meets today at 6:30 p.m. in Room 128 of Dane Smith Hall.
Kowitz said he came up with the idea while pursuing his doctoral degree in sociology at UNM.
"The issues that are going on today are all about the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans," Kowitz said. "There are numerous issues that they are facing coming back, particularly in university studies. Part of the reason for this group is to help these guys transition from military to civilian life to student life and just to provide more structure for them."
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Kowitz said veterans who pursue a higher education after returning from war sometimes have a hard time readjusting.
"Obviously, the guys and women coming back from the current conflict are going to have some post-traumatic-stress disorder and brain injuries and all sorts of readjustment issues and reintegration issues," he said. "Veterans are more prone to all sorts of social problems like homelessness, substance abuse - those kinds of things. So, there's a whole host of issues confronting veterans when they come back."
Student Matt Moody, an Air Force veteran who served in Iraq, said most veterans have problems finding the funds to go to school.
The GI bill - a federal program that provides benefits and financial assistance to veterans seeking a higher education - is set up in a way that makes it difficult for veterans to go back to school, he said.
"I think the GI Bill should be set up differently," he said. "I think it should be set up so that you don't have to front the first semester and then get paid back."
Moody said it would benefit veterans to have a support group at UNM.
"As veterans, we should have more of a voice," he said. "Most veterans are like-minded when it comes to politics and the way they feel about wars and the way they feel about firearms. So, it's good to get a group like that together that have like beliefs and give them a voice."
Lee St. Pierre, a Veteran Affairs official, said he decided to assist Kowitz with the organization after receiving a pamphlet from his father-in-law about a similar organization at the University of Arizona.
"There are so many veterans that walk into my office and do not have the slightest idea of a lot of the services available to them," he said. "So, when Darrin approached me about a veteran's organization and with the material my father-in-law had sent me about how U of A is doing, I just decided it was time to see if I could help create something here that would help the veterans."
Kowitz said veteran organizations are becoming more common.
"It is part of a broad trend that's happening across the country right now," he said. "These kinds of organizations are popping up at universities all over. It's really a big movement that's picking up steam right now and obviously a reaction to what's going on in the world with our military."
