Celebrating Community this Veterans Day

We walk by iconic spaces like Camp Randall, Memorial Union, and the Red Gym every day on campus, but few of us think about their connection to the university’s military heritage. Similarly, we often pass each other bustling to class, meetings or elsewhere without acknowledging there are entire human histories and experiences passing us by.

This Veterans Day, let us pause to see and to recognize the nearly 900 student veterans, active and reserve military students at UW–Madison today. They are veterans of war; some are moms or dads; they are individuals who will drop everything to help strangers in need when disaster strikes. In fact, we have 10 students currently away on military orders. Needless to say, they don’t take the typical path here.

Being a student with a military identity at UW–Madison is honorable. It can be a source of strength and camaraderie. But it can sometimes be lonely...