Chancellor Glenn Boyce speaks to the crowd during the Office of Veteran and Military Services’ annual Military Gala at the University of Mississippi. Photo by Kevin Bain/Ole Miss Digital Imaging Services
Military Times ranks Ole Miss among top schools for veterans nationwide
Military Times has again ranked the University of Mississippi among the best universities in the nation for veterans.
The independent armed forces media outlet ranked Ole Miss as being in the top 5 in the Southeast and top 15 in the nation in its annual “Best For Vets” ranking. The Military Friendly Advisory Council also ranked Ole Miss at No. 8 nationally earlier this year.
“I’m incredibly proud of the University of Mississippi‘s continued leadership in serving our military community,” Chancellor Glenn Boyce said. “While we’re honored by this recognition, what matters most is how we support our veteran and active military students every day.
“Every aspect of our support services, from health care access to academic resources, reflects our fundamental commitment to serving those who have so selflessly served our nation.”
The Military Times ranking is based on metrics such as academic support, career outcomes and overall military culture, highlighting Ole Miss’ dedication to its veteran community. The ranking has become a metric to assess a university’s military-readiness, said Andrew Newby, director of the UM Office of Veteran and Military Services.
In the spring, the Office of Veteran and Military Services will become the Center for Veteran and Military Excellence. The new center highlights an enhanced focus on veteran and military-connected student experience, he said.
“A center elevates us on a national level to be able to answer difficult problems, serious questions that aren’t being addressed – things that change the nature of our work,” he said. “There’s a lot of things that we have figured out how to do really, really well that we want to nationalize.”
Over the last seven years, the university has designated the George Street House for veterans services, brought on an in-house counselor for veteran students and instituted the Veteran Treatment Team, a program that allows student veterans to seek health care on campus instead of driving hours to the nearest VA facility.
Besides offering resources to help access GI Bill and VA benefits, the George Street House is a place for student veterans and military-connected students to study, relax and find support, said Taylor Bridges, president of the Student Veteran Association.
“Student veterans and military-connected students come to the George Street House to converse and relax with other students of the same background,” said Bridges, a senior integrated marketing communications major from Madison. “Having a place like this allows them to network and grow within a community they know they’re fully a part of.”
The office recently instituted a veteran-in-residence program that will place student veterans strategically across campus to amplify their voices, Newby said. The first five veterans in residence will be placed in The Center for Practical Ethics, Trent Lott Leadership Institute, Declaration of Independence Center for the Study of American Freedom, Edge Theory Lab, and in the National Center for Physical Acoustics.
“We need veteran voices in those spaces because veterans represent a microcosm of America,” Newby said. “This is an opportunity for student veterans to use their unique skill sets for managing big and small problems, thought leadership, intrepid thinking – all of the skills they have earned in their service.
“They’re going to have an office. They’re going to have responsibilities that are specific to the mission of those centers, and they’re going to be engaging with those centers’ internal and external stakeholders to help advance the mission of UM.”
The office is also the first in the nation to provide free menstrual products to female veterans and students through PeriodUM, and all its staff members have undergone Mental Health First Aid Training to help veterans in need.
“Everything we do at George Street is for veterans and our military connected students,” Newby said. “The goal is, and always has been, to help our students get to, through and beyond Ole Miss.”
By Clara Turnage
