For the City Times

Student veterans will share their experiences as part of several free, public events at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point as the campus marks Veterans Day.

A Veterans Day ceremony, “My Life as a Student…My Life as a Soldier,” will be held noon to 2 PM Friday, Nov. 10, in the Alumni Room of the Dreyfus University Center. Former Marine sergeant Tegan Griffith, a communications and public relations major, is a keynote speaker. UW-Stevens Point Chancellor Bernie Patterson, a U.S. Army veteran, will give a welcome address.

In addition, a panel of four UW-Stevens Point student veterans and Patterson will offer a question and answer session. Captain Nathan Wallin, a UW-Stevens Point graduate student, teaching assistant and member of the Minnesota Air National Guard, will moderate the panel. The ROTC Color Guard will present the colors, and the UW-Stevens Point Pep Band will perform.

Griffith served as an aircraft maintenance administration specialist in the Marine Corps. At UW-Stevens Point she is public relations director for the Student Government Association and an active member of the UW-Stevens Point Veterans Club. She plans to graduate in May 2018.

She has been active in veterans’ causes, including working for the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs and as an active leader in Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. She is a member of the Women Marines Association, Disabled American Veterans, Plover VFW, Wittenberg American Legion, Student Veterans of America and VFW of Wisconsin Legislative Committee.

At 1 PM Monday, Nov. 13, the UW-Stevens Point Veterans Club and Boots on the Ground Theater will present “See Me For Who I Am: A Theatrical Event” in the Dreyfus University Center Laird Room. Based on the book “See Me For Who I Am,” a collection of essays written by UW-Stevens Point student veterans, the event features professional actors and student veterans portraying the harsh realities of war and the void between military and civilian life.

At 6:30 p.m. Monday in the Laird Room, Marine Corps veteran Thomas Brennan will talk about his book, “Shooting Ghosts,” a memoir he co-authored with photographer Finbarr O’Reilly. A recipient of the Purple Heart, Brennan served in Afghanistan and Iraq. He is a regular contributor to The New York Times “At War” blog and is founder of “The War Horse,” an award-winning nonprofit newsroom chronicling the effects of post 9/11 conflict. The book will be available for purchase.

UW-Stevens Point is home to more than 300 student veterans, National Guard members, reservists and military dependents. The university is consistently named a Military Friendly School by Victory Media, publisher of G.I. Jobs, STEM JobsSM and Military Spouse.

For more information on veterans’ programs at UW-Stevens Point, contact Ann Whipp, coordinator of Veterans Services, at 715-346-3237 or [email protected]