2024 Service to School VetLink Summit Recap
We held our second annual Service to School VetLink Summit at the University of Chicago from June 21-22, 2024.
We kicked off the event with a VetLink program evaluation overview by Alec Emmert, Service to School CEO showed the extent the VetLink program has expanded veteran access to the nation’s top colleges by highlighting the increase in enlisted veteran enrollment in partner schools since the program’s inception in 2017. He was followed by VetLink Director, Whitney Cason who shared how the program had transformed her life.
Day 1 of the Summit featured testimonies from student veterans on the support they receive from VetLink schools in getting admitted and then achieving their goals, highlighting how VetLink partner schools value student veteran perspective and experiences. Such topics included:
Campus Leadership panel featuring Xander de los Reyes (Princeton University), Jackson Donovan (Dartmouth College), and Marie Reinert (Xavier University) focused on how veterans had leveraged their military experience to take leadership roles on campus
Community College to VetLink panel featuring Subin Kim (MIT), John Tessmer (Yale University), Jared Daigrepont (Dartmouth College), and Mike Nichols (University of Chicago) discussed how veterans could use community college as a stepping stone to a VetLink school
Non-Traditional Students panel featuring Chase Williams (Wesleyan University), Ian Stuertz (Bowdoin College), and Javier Kazmierczak (Vassar College) highlighted that even though veterans are “nontraditional students,” there are veterans whose age and experiences make them nontraditional students within the veteran community
Female Veterans panel featuring Anne Wilthew (Vassar College), Marie Reinert (Xavier University), Robin Dudley (Yale University), CJ Roberts (College of William & Mary), Zabrina Adorno (Amherst College), and Ivy Yahner (University of Chicago) discussed the ways that female veterans bring their unique experiences to campus
Family Life on Campus panel featuring Edward Somuk (Harvard University), Whitney Cason (S2S, US Marine Corps spouse), and Zabrina Adorno (Amherst College) focused on unique challenges veterans face when attending college with families or significant others and how they overcame them
Applicants Turned Ambassadors - Paying It Forward panel featuring Quinn Ewanchyna (Harvard University), Seamus Murphy (Cornell University, University of Chicago Harris), Alejandro Castro (Vassar College), and Patrick McGrath (Yale University) demonstrated the integral role ambassadors play in S2S applicant success
Attendees of the 2024 Service to School VetLink Summit gather for a group photo on the stairs of Ida Noyes Hall at the University of Chicago
On Day 2, we shifted focus on what the future holds for veterans pursuing higher education.
Our higher education partners and colleagues took time to share the value veterans bring to their campuses and how to best support them through the barriers in the admissions process. Veteran admissions colleagues also got to hear from three student veterans that participated in our inaugural S2S Scholars Cohort, which is dedicated to supporting first generation college students with their college admissions. Student veterans Joseph Gonzalez (Princeton), Saul Diz (Princeton), and Katherin Ruelan (Cornell) provided
An inspiring Keynote Speech was delivered by Sonny Tai (US Marine Corps Veteran, Co-Founder & CEO of Actuate). Mr. Tai, a former enlisted Marine, shared his personal experiences leveraging his military experience to launch a business that addressed real world problems and how fellow veterans can do the same. Sonny’s address humbly highlighted the importance of building resilience through the many hurdles & obstacles that inevitably come with higher education then a career, but also how essential it is to forge your own path to find your true calling in the end.
The event concluded with a Fireside Chat with Madhav Rajan, Dean of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, who shared how enlisted veterans have made a huge impact in business school and The University of Chicago’s unique program that enables veterans to complete an MBA in conjunction with their undergraduate degree
On Day 2, the student veterans also heard we also heard from -
Planning Your Career featuring John Thurmond (VetJobs)
The Fulbright Scholarship with Carlos Rivas (Fulbright)
Becoming a Tillman Scholar fireside chat hosted by Colleen Reaney (Pat Tillman Foundation)
Preparing with the Warrior-Scholar Project with Ryan Pavel (Warrior-Scholar Project)
Military to Government featuring Andrea Goldstein (Senior Executive Service, Biden-Harris Congressional Alum, Navy Reserve Officer)
Careers in Business panel featuring Phil Anderson (Google), Drew Thomas (Morgan Stanley), Matt DeVivo (McKinsey), Michael Pett (Uber), Wes Going & Tom Huxtable (LEK), and moderated by Brendan Aronson (The Military Veteran)
Entrepreneurship 101 featuring Sonny Tai (Actuate), Joey Dumas (Real Estate Investor), Kevin Cajas (Ares FinTech), Dean Wegner (Authentically American), Shannon Stone-Winding (Black Alliance of Colleges & Employers (BACE)), Latoya Stampley (Stampley Technology & Management), and moderated by Dan Futrell (Polymath)
Veterans in Law panel featuring David Heder (William & Mary Law School), Courtney McMann (Harvard Law School), Heather Egan (Orrick), and moderated by Issa DiScuiollo (William & Mary School of Law)
Enlisted to MBA discussion featuring Enlisted ExFil members Liam Fangman (Notre Dame Mendoza) and James Norwood (University of Chicago Booth)
Military to PhD discussion featuring Professor Kit Parker (Harvard University) and moderated by Nick Starling (Ranger Policy and Leadership Center)
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