Saluting Our Veterans

November 11, 2019

Members of the Rutgers Community:

Today across the United States we commemorate Veterans Day, an annual tribute to the men and women who have served our nation in the armed forces. It is a time to honor the dedicated service that so many brave people have rendered in defense of our freedom, including all those who lost their lives in carrying out their noble duty. 

We take special pride in those Rutgers people who have served their country in this way over the centuries. On behalf of our entire University community, I want to thank everyone associated with Rutgers who has served in uniform, some of them still on active duty. We honor and applaud your service.

In past communications, I have highlighted the programs of our Office of Veteran and Military Programs and Services (OVMPS) and those on each of our campuses who help men and women on active duty, and those making the transition to civilian life, to advance in their studies. We are continuously trying to increase services; for example, OVMPS has established a recreation series with supportive programming for student-veterans who have service-related disabilities. I want to reaffirm our strong commitment to excellence in assisting our student-veterans.

Recent additions to our website highlight dynamic programs we have for our veterans, as well as some of our remarkable student-veterans, and I recommend them to you:

Veterans Apply Lessons from the Military to the Medical Profession – a Rutgers Today article about student-veterans at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School who have developed a team-building initiative focused on patient safety.

Veterans Writing Program Earns New Jersey Council for the Humanities Action Grant – a Rutgers–Camden News Now article on a Writers House collaboration, “Outside the Wire,” that helps veterans harness the power of the written word.

Paving the Way for Veterans to Succeed – a Rutgers Today feature on a national program recently introduced at Rutgers-Newark that offers camaraderie and support to help veterans navigate college life.

Student-Veterans at Rutgers-Camden – a video introducing some of the heroes who are pursuing their academic dreams at Rutgers University–Camden.

To all Rutgers veterans—in our student body, on our faculty and staff, and among our alumni—I wish you all the best on Veterans Day 2019.

Sincerely,

Robert Barchi