The Veteran Students Organization (VESO) and the Stony Brook Student Nurses’ Association (SBSNA) hosted the third annual overnight event called Tent City outside Staller Center on November 7 to exemplify the harsh conditions homeless veterans face on a daily basis. This event is one of many that support Stony Brook University’s Military Appreciation Month.
Students camped overnight at the third annual Tent City to raise awareness about the harsh conditions faced by homeless veterans.
The event aims to bring awareness of and cultivate empathy toward the issue of veteran homelessness. It also strives to build and strengthen connections and a sense of community within the University among traditional students and veteran students. Pamela Pfeil, Coordinator of Veteran Student Services and Stony Brook alumna, emphasized that “transitioning from military life to civilian life is a real difficult transition.
Stony Brook University’s Veteran Affairs is dedicated to serving assisting our veterans, service members and their dependents in receiving their education benefits, facilitating their transition to college and providing support for ongoing academic success.”
Christopher Palazzolo, Vice President, Veteran Student Organization was one of the main organizers of the event and invited Dr. Rick Gatteau, Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students, and Dr. Jarvis Watson, Interim Chief Diversity Officer, to offer some remarks at the event. They spoke about how the Stony Brook University Office of Veteran Affairs’ goal is to strive to become one of the nation’s top military-friendly schools by offering the student military veteran population a wide range of support services, educating faculty and staff of their needs, and developing community support.