The Student Veterans For America Club at Iowa

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Jeremy C Tevis
  • 185ARW/PA
Ames, Iowa --  For many students in college, looking for a place to belong and a group or club to join can be a daunting experience. With the abundant variety of clubs that are available to join the search can be overwhelming. SrA Kat Blake of the 133rd Test Squadron in Fort Dodge has found her home with a club called the "Student Veterans for America." When asked what the purpose of the club is, she responded "Most students in the club are veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) or Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), and the goal of the club is to help service members integrate back into student lift in the form of social, service, and informational events." She went on to say that "the overall purpose of this organization is to: provide guidance, support, and information to veterans, increase community awareness of veterans' issues, conduct appropriate service events to benefit veterans and advocate for student veterans' issues as a member organization of Region 3 of the national Student Veterans for America."

According to the SVA website (www.studentverans.org) the SVA is a coalition of student veteran groups from college campuses across the United States. It is open to all military services. Founded in January of 2008, the SVA has approximately 130 chapters across the United States at different colleges and universities. Membership acceptance into the group only requires that the student be a former or current military service member currently enrolled in college classes. Veterans in the local communities are also welcomed to support and partner with the group.

For more information about the SVA, you can visit the SVA club at Iowa State website http://isusva.wordpress.com or find the club on Facebook by searching Student Veterans for America at Iowa State University. You can also email SrA Kat Blake at keblake@iastate.edu. For students attending the University of Iowa, the UIVA (University of Iowa Veterans Association) website is www.uiowa.edu/~uiva.

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