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SALT LAKE CITY — Oz Hutton has always enjoyed being a part of clubs and associations in college, but as a Marine Corps veteran, it's not always easy to feel comfortable in a college environment.
Westminster College is trying to make college life a little easier for Hutton and other students who have served in the military.
The college on Friday opened its new Center for Veteran and Military Services, which will give military vets a "one-stop shop" for financial aid help, academic counseling and resources off campus, according to the center's director, Sylvia O'Hara.
College leaders hope the center will also be a source of non-academic benefits.
"This center will give them a space to hang out, to meet other students, to grab a cup of coffee," O'Hara said. "While it's great they can come in and have their language understood, the broader impact is that their experience is understood here, and that is very meaningful to veterans as a whole, and especially our veterans here at Westminster."
Hutton said he's looking forward to using the center, but he's also hoping it will provide opportunities to help others.
"At the veterans center, we're all veterans, so we can relate in a way that we can't relate with other clubs on campus," said Hutton, who served in the Marines for 10 years until 1992. "It's also given me opportunities to serve my fellow veterans. To be able to volunteer and give some guidance to my fellow veterans is a wonderful opportunity."
This week, U.S. News ranked Westminster 18th among "best colleges for veterans" in the West. The rankings were based, in part, on how colleges administer the GI Bill, which helps cover tuition for members of the military.
As another contributor to the ranking, Westminster participates in the Yellow Ribbon Program, in which the college partners with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to cover tuition costs that aren't covered by the GI Bill, ensuring that veterans have no out-of-pocket expenses.
This center will give them a space to hang out, to meet other students, to grab a cup of coffee. While it's great they can come in and have their language understood, the broader impact is that their experience is understood here, and that is very meaningful to veterans as a whole, and especially our veterans here at Westminster.
–Sylvia O'Hara, center director
Currently, Westminster enrolls roughly 100 veterans from all branches of the military among its total enrollment of more than 2,300 students, according to John Baworowsky, vice president of enrollment management and student services.
Corbin Catmull is one of those veterans. He served in the Marines from 2010 to 2014 and is now working on a degree in public health administration with the goal of working for the Veterans Administration. Like Hutton, he looks forward to using the center as a place to help other veterans transition to new stages in life.
"When you recognize the fact that students are transitioning from a military life to a civilian life, into now a concentrated student culture, any and every resource the students can use is important," Catmull said. "This center makes an active point of saying, 'We recognize your service, we recognize you're here to continue growing in your life.' Although it's small now, we're going to use anything and everything to help them make that transition, make that springboard into the next step of their life easier."
Stephen Morgan, who became president of Westminster in March, said he hopes the center will also help non-veterans on campus better understand what some of their fellow students have been through in service to their country.
"We're honored to have this center on our campus, and it is our hope that our veterans will call it their home. But it will also be a place where all of our students come to learn about what it's like to defend our country and hear about the stories of sacrifice," Morgan said. "Our veterans are a key part of this community."
