05/23/24 - Southeastern again named Military Friendly School

Thursday, May 23, 2024 [Link]
by: Tonya Lowentritt

HAMMOND - Southeastern Louisiana University has been named a Military Friendly® School for 2024-2025. This is the 12th consecutive year Southeastern has received the designation.
Southeastern continues to strive to be one of the best military and veteran friendly institutions in the state of Louisiana and in the nation. Viqtory Media, publisher of "G.I. Jobs," states the listing honors the top colleges, universities and trade schools that are doing the most to embrace the nation's military service members, veterans, and spouses as students and to ensure their success on campus. This year Southeastern was awarded Gold Status, which is the highest award currently in the state of Louisiana.
"We are proud of our consistent listing, as it illustrates Southeastern's continued commitment to serve active military, veterans and their families. It also places us among some of the top universities in the nation," said President William S. Wainwright. "Most importantly, we know the designation means we are doing our best to serve those who have made many sacrifices in service to our nation."
Southeastern enrolls 492 veterans, dependents and military service members. The university maintains a Veterans Upward Bound program; provides academic and other counseling services; offers scholarships specifically for military students and veterans; and maintains a wide range of online and distance learning programs that provide students with flexibility in scheduling.
Southeastern's ROTC program, which is a sub-unit of the Southern University Army ROTC program, returned to Hammond in 2016 after more than a 20-year hiatus. Forty-six students now participate in the program, with 19 of them being contracted scholarship cadets.
Southeastern also serves as a resource center for thousands of Louisiana veterans in an effort to help active-duty military service men and women successfully transition to college through a new program called LaVetCorps.
Southeastern has a specific office dedicated to serving veterans and their family members. The Office of Military and Veteran Success has two full-time employees, a LaVetCorps Navigator, 10 student workers. The office processes all education benefits sponsored by the VA and DOD, conducts VA benefits counseling, offers priority registration for classes and on-campus housing, and more.
Director of Military and Veteran Success Emily Anthony, who is currently serving as a Captain in the Louisiana Army National Guard, said Southeastern recently became designated as a Purple Heart University by the Military Order of the Purple Heart, signifying an unwavering commitment to continuously improve services to combat-wounded veterans.
"The Southeastern community is passionately committed to serving our veteran community, and it truly shows through our customer service across campus," said Anthony. "Each office works collaboratively to ensure a seamless experience for our students, and we continue to improve every day. We have created a network of resources involving countless local businesses and organizations that provide services to veterans. As a veteran myself, I am extremely proud to work here because of what we represent."
An addition to campus is the Southeastern Student Veterans and Military Interest Association, a group open to veterans, reservists, spouses, dependents, and ROTC participants attending both Southeastern and Northshore Technical Community College. The association was founded to help the school administration better understand and meet the needs of veterans; offer advice from experienced to incoming veterans; help civilians better understand the military experience; and provide opportunities for veterans to meet one another and connect.
Institutions competed for inclusion on the Military Friendly Schools list based on such categories as military support on campus, graduation and employment outcomes and career and job counseling services. The firm Ernst and Young independently tested the data provided by schools.
The 2024 list of Military Friendly Schools shows the commitment of those institutions in providing a supportive environment for military students, the company said in announcing the list.
Viqtory Media is a service-disabled, veteran-owned small business founded in 2001. In addition to "G.I. Jobs," the company also publishes the magazine "Military Spouse."

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