Representing UAF Student Veterans in D.C.

James Gilchrest graduated in spring 2017 with his Bachelor of Emergency Management degree with a minor in business administration from the UAF School of Management (SOM). He is currently in his second semester of graduate school at SOM and plans to finish his Master of Business Administration in fall of 2019. James wrote this story about his recent experiences at the Student Veterans of America Leadership Institute.



On September 23, I graduated from the 2018 Student Veterans of America Leadership Institute in Washington, D.C.

The experience was invigorating, yet challenging. Over the course of three days, I and the rest of my cohort assessed our personal leadership styles, defined our core/brand values, and created a leadership vision. On the last day of instruction, my assigned mentor reviewed my vision and encouraged to continually build upon it.



The majority of the instruction occurred in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and a portion of it also took place in the White House. I met key stakeholders and executive leaders from organizations such as LinkedIn, Prudential, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and the American Council on Education. I found it enjoyable to talk about my experience at UAF and the impact the School of Management (SOM) has had on my life. Many people I met were curious about Alaska and what our university has to offer.



I applied for the Leadership Institute so that I could bring back knowledge to share with the UAF Student Veterans of America chapter and cultivate a deeper understanding of truly effective leadership. Most importantly, I wanted to challenge the stigma that veterans are “charity cases;” if you look at student veteran statistics, the reality is quite the opposite. We are yesterday’s warriors, today’s scholars, and future leaders. If you don’t believe me, check out these facts from the National Veteran Education Success Tracker (NVEST) Project.

Help student veterans thrive in higher education, mentor us, believe in us, challenge us, and I can assure you our campus and our nation will be a better place.

I want to recognize and thank the UAF administration and Jackie Morton, director of the Department of Military and Veteran Services, for believing that the inclusivity of veterans on our campus makes it better.

I would also like to thank SOM Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HSEM) faculty and staff – Cameron Carlson, Troy Bouffard, Amber Lammers, Sean McGee – and SOM Dean Herrmann for seeing the value that student veterans bring to SOM and HSEM.