UCCS is honoring its student veterans throughout the week of Nov. 8 with multiple events, culminating at the Veterans Day Luncheon on Nov. 11.
Student veterans can celebrate and connect with other veterans at events organized by the McCord-Herbst Student Veteran Center. Veterans will have the opportunity to network, converse and win prizes while being recognized for their service.
Mike Hamilton, student engagement and programs coordinator for Veteran and Military Affairs, wrote via email, “We’ve got a Taco Bar Monday, a Faculty & Staff Breakfast on Tuesday, Marine Corps Birthday on Wednesday with Ice cream, and Friday we’ll raffle off some awesome prizes for attending.”
“It’s an opportunity to be fed a hot meal while being recognized for their service. As well as connecting with our on and off-campus partners who offer services that will benefit their lives,” he said.
The Nov. 11 lunch is free for veteran staff and students and will feature Chuck Litchfield as the guest speaker. Litchfield is the vice chancellor for administration and finance and chief financial officer at UCCS. He is a retired Navy captain test pilot with 25 years of service and 3,000 flight hours.
Litchfield received his master of business administration from UCCS while he was stationed in Colorado Springs in 2011. He was the director of operations at U.S. Northern Command while attending UCCS as well.
Hamilton said the theme for Litchfield’s speech is “honoring those who served.” In addition, he said, “All Veterans make a sacrifice to serve their country, whether physically, emotionally, or by being away from their loved ones and missing important life moments.”
Additionally, two graduate students and four undergraduate students will be inducted into the SALUTE Veterans National Honor Society, which recognizes student veterans for their achievements inside the classroom, according to Hamilton.
The honor society was created in 2009 by the Colorado State University veteran’s office and is available to honorably discharged student veterans with a 3.0 GPA and above.
The honor society uses a tier-based system that, according to the SALUTE website, “is designed to encourage undergraduate student veterans to strive to improve their GPAs and advance to higher tier levels (and scholarship brackets) in the honor society during their academic careers.”
The Veteran Staff and Faculty Appreciation Breakfast on Nov. 9 will be located at the Upper Lodge beginning at 8 a.m. The Marine Corps Birthday celebration on Nov. 10 will begin at 11:30 a.m. in the Veterans Center in Gateway Hall.
The Veterans Day Luncheon on Nov. 11 will take place at 11:30 a.m. in Berger Hall.
Hamilton said the Veterans Day lunch occurs annually at UCCS, and before this year, the highest turnout was 60 people. As of Nov. 4, 70 student-veterans have signed up to attend.
Attendants must RSVP on Mountain Lion Connect.
According to Hamilton, students will receive a raffle ticket for each event they participate in, and prizes will be raffled off on Friday, Nov. 12.
