Vanguard honors graduating veterans

Vanguard University celebrated the graduation of its Yellow Ribbon program’s student veterans during its fifth Challenge Coin Ceremony Tuesday.

The event, held in the Needham Chapel Courtyard, honored graduates who have either completed their military service or plan to serve in the near future. Friends and families of the veterans sat in the courtyard to watch the ceremony and hear speeches about the challenges for veterans.

The students were participants in Yellow Ribbon, a federal government program that partners with universities across the United States to help veterans attain a college education. At Vanguard, Yellow Ribbon allows these prospective students to enroll in undergraduate programs or accelerated classes in the School for Graduate and Professional Studies.

The ceremony recognized graduates Brian Cogdell, Air Force; Ben Donde, Army and Air Force; Brian Fleenor, Air Force; Gloria Hernandez, Army National Guard; Adam Scheenstra, Army; Michael Sudan, Marines; and Chau Tran, Navy. Fleenor and Hernandez could not attend the event.

Rather than receiving a diploma, the students walked to the stage to accept a challenge coin from Vanguard President Michael Beals. These graduates will get their diplomas at the commencement ceremony for the university’s full graduating class.

Carrying a challenge coin that represents the branch a serviceman or -woman is serving, is a tradition based partly on the idea that it can be displayed if membership in the military is challenged.

One side of the coin depicts the American flag and a flag representing the graduate’s branch of service. The opposite side features the Vanguard University logo surrounded by the words “Truth,” “Virtue” and “Service.”

As they celebrated their graduation, many of the student veterans said they are eager to take the next step in their future.

Sudan, the ceremony’s student speaker, looks forward to fatherhood. His 1-month old daughter, Eleanor, wore an army-print dress to Vanguard’s event.

“I’m going to focus on being a new dad before making plans for grad school,” Sudan said. “[Vanguard] has given veterans the chance to complete their goals and see their options. We haven’t always had this kind of support.”

For students like Scheenstra, military service begins after graduation. While studying at Vanguard, Scheenstra participated in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, or ROTC. This college-based program trained him to become a commissioned officer.

Scheenstra said he looks forward to earning his commission in May but he is also grateful to have a degree to fall back on.

“My marketing major has given me something that I can lean on in the future,” he said. “I even want to pursue an MBA while serving, either online or on a campus.”