Supporting UTA’s veteran community
With the start of another semester at The University of Texas at Arlington came the opportunity for military-connected students to learn about the resources available to meet their unique needs.
More than a dozen on-campus and local community organizations came together for the 7th annual Veteran Resource Fair on Sept. 11. Held outside the Office of Military and Veteran Services, the event showcased the services these groups have to offer to make the transition to college just a little bit easier for student veterans and their families.
UTA sophomore Rafael Renteria was among the students checking things out. Born in Mexico, he spent most of his life in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas before joining the U.S. Army. At the age of 51, he made the decision to pursue higher education for the first time. Now, he is an undergraduate student double-majoring in education and political science, hoping to not only shape the lives of parents and students navigating the school system, but also the policies that impact them.
Renteria read about UTA and its resources for veterans before choosing the University for his degree. After reaching out to other student veterans and learning how large UTA’s veteran community is, he says he felt at home.
“In most of my classes, there is someone who is a veteran … I feel like I belong. Though I’ve been out [of the service] for almost 11 years, here I feel a belonging to the community that I was part of when I was serving,” he said.
James Kumm, executive director of Military and Veteran Services, calls the fair a great chance to remind all student veterans that the on-campus community and the community at large are there to help.
“The value of this fair is to expose our new military-connected students to all the great resources and services in our community and campus that we have to offer,” he said. “It’s also there to remind our returning students that we’re here for them and we’re going to support their success in any way we can.”
That support has been repeatedly recognized on state and national levels. The Texas Veterans Commission recently awarded UTA a gold Veteran Education Excellence Award for its intentional efforts aimed at military-connected students. The University was also ranked the nation’s top public university and No. 2 overall on the 2023 Military Times Best for Vets: Colleges list.
About 4,200 military-connected students attend UTA, including 2,000 veterans. Renteria says that community, along with academics, made it the right choice for him.
“It was the best decision I made.”