By Evan Sandel
The Scene staff
Leaders of the Forest Park Veterans Club returned from a Student Veterans of America leadership summit in Kansas City last month inspired to make a greater impact on campus.
“We’re trying to get a resource center for veterans, a place where they can come and get tutoring and information they need about medical and education benefits,” Club President Edward Alexander said.
“Veterans face a lot of different issues. Some have been wounded in war or traumatized, and when they come home, they often don’t have the resources or know somebody who can tell them how to get help.”
Alexander joined the Army in 1981 and completed basic training at Fort McClellan in Anderson, Ala., before being assigned to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio to train in hospital administration. However, he was honorably discharged in early 1982 when a pre-existing medical condition was discovered.
SVA leadership summits are designed to bring together veterans who are attending college across the country to discuss chapter activities and ways to help to ease transitions from military to civilian life.
Clubs also participate in “business plan competitions,” earning $1,000 grants while working and networking with business leaders.
“With the grant we hope to win, along with fundraisers and some money from the school, we hope to buy a couple of computers and to have a paid military veteran tutor and other resources for veteran students,” said Alexander, who won a leadership commendation at the conference.
The Forest Park Veterans Club includes about a third of the 145 veterans enrolled in classes this semester. They represent every branch of the U.S. armed forces.
The club already has acquired a new space to hold meetings and offer services in F-230, across from the African-American Male Initiative office.
Alexander isn’t the only one concerned about veterans struggling to overcome traumas experienced on the battlefield and re-acclimating to civilian life.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs reports that the number of male veterans under 30 who commit suicide increased by 44 percent between 2009 and 2011, according to the most recent data available.
“Their rates are astronomically high and climbing,” said Jan Kemp, the department’s national mental health director for suicide prevention, in an interview with Stars and Stripes magazine.
“That’s disturbing to us.”
Forest Park Veterans Club Vice President Devon Cook and member Michael Benson also attended the leadership summit.
Club sponsor Tracy Carpenter-Bond called them “up and coming.”
“Michael really exhibits the leadership qualities we’re looking for, and we’re kind of grooming him to take over after Mr. Alexander,” she said.
Carpenter-Bond served as a combat medic and medical equipment repair technician in the U.S. Navy before joining the STLCC staff as district coordinator for veterans services. She holds degrees in sociology from University of Missouri-St. Louis and electrical engineering from Washington University.
Carpenter-Bond said a campus resource center for veterans attending Forest Park would serve a communal need. She has faith in Alexander’s ability to make it happen.
“This (resource center) is going to give you the tools … that you’re going to need to do the work that you have to do,” she said. “You have to be confident and hone your raw talent. Come and learn everything you can learn, and you can blossom as a leader.”
Carpenter-Bond was also largely responsible for Alexander’s selection as club president when his predecessor left.
“As a community college and a college that has students who are basically commuter students or transfer students, club leadership can be really hard to come by, but Mr. Alexander has always been an awesome member of the Veterans Club here at Forest Park,” she said.