Honoring our Veterans with Support and Opportunity

The observance of Veterans Day on November 11 is a cherished annual tradition that our nation holds dear. At Tulane University , we honor our veterans and active-duty military every day through a variety of programs and initiatives designed to support them at every stage of their educational journey.

To ensure our military-affiliated students can easily navigate these offerings, the Office of Undergraduate Admission has launched a new website for veterans, military-connected families, and students interested in Tulane’s ROTC programs. The site offers Tulane veterans and military families a portal into admission and financial aid, VA educational benefits, ROTC programs, student life, and support resources.

While the website may be new, Tulane’s commitment to those who have honorably served our country is not. Our reputation as a university that champions its military community attracts star scholars with a passion for service. Let me give you just a few examples. Griffith Parry is a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army and second-year student at Tulane University School of Medicine who recently earned an Army Achievement Medal for his outstanding research. Lindsey Carstairs is a first-year student in Newcomb-Tulane College who was honored as Operation Homefront’s 2024 Military Child of the Year for the Navy for her exceptional community service efforts. Jackson Smith, who completed eight years of active deployment with the Marines in between earning his bachelor’s and law degrees at Tulane, now leads the Bastion Community of Resilience, a unique residential community for injured veterans and their families in the Gentilly neighborhood of New Orleans. And our?2024 Commencement speaker, Tamunoboma Dominion Fenny, is beginning her full-time military career as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force after earning her law degree in May.

When he signed the GI Bill into law in 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote that the bill “gives emphatic notice to the men and women in our armed forces that the American people do not intend to let them down.” At Tulane, we are equally emphatic in our support. The GI Bill and its subsequent iterations have had a profound impact on our veterans, building new educational pathways that have transformed countless lives. Yet there is more to be done. As a university, we continually strive to identify the ways that we can best meet the needs of today’s military community.

I am proud of our veterans and active-duty military, who are the living embodiment of Tulane’s motto of non sibi sed suis: not for oneself, but for one’s own. I hope you will join me in saluting them this Veterans Day, and in supporting them every day of the year.