Tag: Chez Veterans Center

At 10 years, Chez Veterans Center honors its family and friends

May 19, 2025 | Ethan Simmons

After long journeys to Urbana-Champaign, the Chez family joined each other at the campus center bearing their name, beaming with pride. 

The Chez family (from left: Ilyse Chez, Eden Macknin, Julie and Eric Chez) smiles at the 10th anniversary celebration of the center.

Thirteen years ago, Ron Chez—a 1962 University of Illinois graduate and Army veteran turned investor and philanthropist—provided a lead gift to build the Chez Veterans Center. Since then, the campus hub has assisted the transition to higher education and beyond for many hundreds of student Veterans and military-connected students since its opening a decade ago. 

Though Ron couldn’t be there for its 10-year anniversary, his son Eric, daughter-in-law Julie and granddaughters Ilyse and Eden traveled from locations across the country to attend on his behalf, and see the center’s community reflect on its first 10 years.

As they mingled with students and recent graduates who have benefited from the Chez Veterans Center, the family was moved to see Ron’s commitment realized before them. 

“It’s something we’re going to look at with continual pride, the growth and change of direction from where it was 10 years ago,” Eric Chez said. “Seeing that it’s all working and paying off is very rewarding.” 

The Chez Veterans Center has evolved since its doors first opened in 2015. Initially named the Chez Center for Wounded Veterans in Higher Education, the center’s scope has expanded to support new generations of student Veterans who didn’t see combat, as well as students from military families. The name was shortened to the Chez Veterans Center in 2019, after students and staff supported the change. 

With residential services available for student Veterans, combined with research opportunities, scholarships, classes and counseling, the Chez Veterans Center is a first-of-its-kind facility supporting Veterans’ transition to university life. On average, about 600 students have visited the center each semester since its opening. 

“The Chez Veterans Center is more than a building—clearly,” said Cheryl Hanley-Maxwell, dean of the College of Applied Health Sciences, the center’s home college. “It’s a space for healing, discovery, growth and empowerment. Every day it opens doors to Veterans who are reshaping their lives through educational service.”

“We’re honored to have the Chez family members here who carry forward Ron’s vision with compassion and grace,” she said at the center’s 10-year celebration. “I can’t tell you how much your presence means to our community.”

‘What a beautiful place’

In his early days as director of the Chez Veterans Center, Andy Bender was looking for as much thoughtful guidance as he could find. His chats with Ron Chez, including a visit to his home in Florida a couple years ago, helped Bender as he was getting on his feet. 

“Mr. Chez has been willing to listen to me, to guide and to provide advice and support,” Bender said. “To be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever had the experience where somebody is willing to give that kind of time in this way.” 

The 10-year celebration held on May 8 brought together the center’s students, staff and supporters together under one roof. It was the first time the Chez family visited the center together since its groundbreaking ceremony in Urbana, back in fall 2013. 

Cheryl Hanley-Maxwell, dean of the College of Applied Health Sciences.

Hearing stories of how the center has made a difference in students’ lives touched the Chez family, including Ilyse Chez, who works as a middle school counselor in Oregon. 

“What a beautiful place,” she said. “I think I underestimated all the aspects here. I wasn’t aware of how much it’s grown and expanded, and to see the benefits in action has been such a wonderful experience.”  

Back in 2012, Ron Chez pledged $6 million to cover nearly half of the center’s construction costs. The Chez Family Foundation has continued philanthropic work across the country and the Illinois campus, including a scholarship program for students with disabilities.  

“Being a Veteran is a really big part of his identity, and to begin to do something like this and create such a meaningful and profound impact like this is really special to him,” said Ron’s granddaughter Eden Macknin. “He feels a great deal of pride and gratitude to be able to provide for people who haven’t been taken care of as they should.” 

One graduating senior who stuck around for the festivities was Sam Bautista, a four-year Air Force Veteran who’s obtaining his degree in Community Health at Illinois. Bautista is keenly aware of how the Chez Veterans Center played a “crucial role” in his adjustment to college. 

“Veterans transitioning out are told by society that you need to ‘fit in’ to what society is. And that’s true in many aspects, but to have a place where you’re surrounded by Veterans who understand your experience, that’s what Chez provides for all of us here,” Bautista said. “The friends I’ve made here have said it’s one place for Veterans to call home while here at Illinois.” 

Education was always Bautista’s end goal. His next stop is a graduate program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 

“A lot of Veterans are hard on themselves—they need to give themselves credit for what they’ve done but then move onto their next chapter and enjoy it too,” he said. “Veterans are go-getters, we’re trained to be, it’s ingrained in us. When we find that passion again, you can reignite the fire you have in the military.” 

Sam Bautista (right) speaks with Michael and Susan Haney at the Chez Center’s 10th anniversary celebration.

A few key supporters were recognized for making the work of the Chez Veterans Center possible. 

  • Joe Rank, an Illinois alumnus, Vietnam War Veteran and member of the Chez advisory board, was presented the center’s inaugural Guidon Award for his continued partnership with the center. 
  • Susan and Michael Haney, alumni and longtime educators whose Ronald D. Paulsgrove Student Support Fund, named for Susan’s cousin who served in Vietnam, covers the non-academic costs of college for student Veterans. 
  • Naomi Winslow, who decided to honor her late husband Wayne, an Army and Air Force Veteran, by providing a named gift to the Chez Veterans Center. The center’s common area kitchen is now named after the couple. 
  • Tanya Gallagher, previous dean of the College of Applied Health Sciences who championed the Chez Center’s creation while she worked for Illinois. Gallagher was presented with a flag that had flown over the center.

Editor’s note: To learn more about the Chez Veterans Center, visit chezveteranscenter.ahs.illinois.edu

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(Joe) Rank and file: Retired Naval officer became a Chez Center guide

Jan. 14, 2024 | Ethan Simmons

Now-retired Joe Rank is helping sustain a campus resource he could’ve used as a military veteran who returned for further education: the Chez Veterans Center

Now retired, Joe Rank, left, is using his time to help support the Chez Veterans Center. (Photo provided)

By fall 1965, the conflict between North and South Vietnam had escalated, as had the United States’ military involvement. With the draft looming, Urbana teenager Joe Rank, newly enrolled at the University of Illinois, joined the Naval ROTC unit at the advice of one of his fraternity brothers a year after reserve officer training was no longer compulsory.

After four years as an undergraduate student majoring in advertising, Rank was deployed to Vietnam, where his responsibilities included pinging enemy submarines and managing gunners aboard the destroyer USS Lyman K. Swenson and the cruiser USS England.

Following his three-year tour, Rank returned to the university and embarked on several career journeys. He taught new cohorts of reserve officers, helmed a $20 million Navy advertising campaign, and developed two decades of relationships at the University of Illinois Alumni Association.

“If anybody 55 years ago said, ‘You’re going to make a career of the Navy,’ I would’ve told them they were absolutely crazy,” Rank said. “All of life’s twists and turns, I couldn’t have planned it.”

The retired Rank, now 76, is helping sustain a campus resource he could’ve used as a military veteran who returned for further education: the Chez Veterans Center.

“Joe is a bridge between the university’s deep history in the veteran community and what the future can be,” said Chez Director of Operations Andy Bender. “Joe has the passion for this work, being able to take the things we need and then bringing in the support to do it.”

“They’ve got a clear mission now to serve all veterans,” Rank said of the Chez Center. “Veterans bring diversity to the campus.”

Rank, who lives in Urbana with his wife, Pam, has strong ties with his identities as an Illinois alumnus and veteran. While visiting the Vietnam Memorial Wall, Rank made a charcoal rubbing of the etched name of Marine Corps 2nd Lt. David Skibbe, a fellow Illinois Naval ROTC officer who died during a mission in 1970.

When he returned from Vietnam, Rank became an instructor for Illinois ROTC classes, earning the title of assistant professor of naval science while obtaining his master’s degree in advertising.

Three years of 18-hour days in Vietnam made the daily study grind feel easy.

Veterans bring diversity to the campus.

Joe Rank

Illinois alumnus and retired Naval officer

“I was at the library at 8 o’clock in the morning, got my work done by 4 p.m.,” Rank said. “I had that discipline—I got one B in graduate school.”

Rank soon went back to sea, when the Navy did something that “didn’t make much sense” to him at the time: Brought Rank in as director of national advertising for Navy recruiting.

After 20 years of active-duty service, Rank faced the test of reintegrating into civilian life and passed with flying colors. The mission of the Chez Center has connected with him from the start.

While serving as vice president of membership and marketing at the Alumni Association, he was brought into an ad hoc committee to address the vision of Chez, then known as the Center for Wounded Veterans in Higher Education.

“The intent was it would be much like [Disability Resources and Educational Services] was for the World War II vets. It would accommodate severely, profoundly injured military veterans who wanted to come back to college.”

Like DRES, Chez has morphed its service to apply to a wider range of students and staff. On the advisory committee, the word “wounded” was eliminated from the title as Chez became a one-stop shop for military-connected people on campus.

“Originally, it was a welcoming cocoon for people to recreate that military atmosphere and camaraderie. But in reality, the whole idea is to get people comfortable enough with the university and the civilian environment and push them out, get them involved in their major,” Rank said.

“The idea is not to segregate them into a pseudo-military unit, but get them comfortable with what they’re going to experience in civilian life.”

Rank’s support of the Chez Center is multifaceted as both a donor and member of its advisory board.

“He’s a great sounding board for me,” Bender said. “He’s been a part of this project since the very beginning. “He’s a great supporter of us, of the veterans, and of the university at large.”

Editor’s note:

To reach Ethan Simmons, email ecsimmon@illinois.edu.
 

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How Joe Rank became a Chez Center guide

June 20, 2023 | Ethan Simmons

Joe Rank is helping sustain a campus resource he could’ve used as a military Veteran who returned for further education: The Chez Veterans Center

Joe Rank, left, stands with his son Jay Rank at the WWII Memorial. Rank, a Vietnam War Veteran, recently returned from an Honor Flight visit to Washington, D.C. (Photo provided)

By the fall of 1965, the conflict between North and South Vietnam had escalated, as had the United States’ military involvement. With the draft looming, Urbana teenager Joe Rank, newly enrolled at the University of Illinois, joined the Naval ROTC unit at the advice of one of his fraternity brothers a year after reserve officer training was no longer compulsory.

After four years as an undergraduate student majoring in advertising, Rank was deployed to Vietnam, where his responsibilities included pinging enemy submarines and managing gunners aboard the destroyer USS Lyman K. Swenson and the cruiser USS England.

Following his three-year tour, Rank returned to the university and embarked on several career journeys. He taught new cohorts of reserve officers, helmed a $20 million Navy advertising campaign, and developed two decades of relationships at the University of Illinois Alumni Association.

“If anybody 55 years ago said ‘You’re going to make a career of the Navy,’ I would’ve told them they were absolutely crazy,” Rank said. “All of life’s twists and turns, I couldn’t have planned it.”

The retired Rank, now 76, is helping sustain a campus resource he could’ve used as a military Veteran who returned for further education: The Chez Veterans Center.

“Joe is a bridge between the university’s deep history in the Veteran community and what the future can be,” said Chez Director of Operations Andy Bender. “Joe has the passion for this work, being able to take the things we need and then bringing in the support to do it.”

“They’ve got a clear mission now to serve all veterans,” Rank said of the Chez Center. “Veterans bring diversity to the campus.”

Rank, who lives in Urbana with his wife Pam, has strong ties with his identities as an Illinois alumnus and Veteran. He recently returned from an Honor Flight, a no-cost, full-day visit to military memorials in Washington, D.C., with 96 other Vietnam Veterans and three from the Korean War.

Witnessing historic monuments such as the Arlington National Cemetery and feeling warm receptions at every point led to an unforgettable experience. At the Vietnam Memorial Wall, Rank made a charcoal rubbing of the etched name of Marine Corps 2nd Lt. David Skibbe, a fellow Illinois Naval ROTC officer who died during a mission in 1970.

“He was just an outstanding leader,” Rank said. “His death brought the war close to home for me.”

Rank has stayed in the University of Illinois orbit since he was a kid. His mother worked in the Dean’s Office of the College of Commerce, now the Gies College of Business. Many of his friends coming up through Urbana High School were children of professors.

When he returned from Vietnam, Rank became an instructor for Illinois ROTC classes, earning the title of assistant professor of Naval Science while obtaining his master’s degree in advertising.

Three years of 18-hour days in Vietnam made the daily study grind feel easy.

They’ve got a clear mission now to serve all veterans,” Rank said of the Chez Center. “Veterans bring diversity to the campus.

Joe Rank

Vietnam War Veteran and Illinois alumnus

“I was at the library at 8 o’clock in the morning, got my work done by 4 p.m.,” Rank said. “I had that discipline—I got one B in graduate school.”

Rank soon went back to sea, when the Navy did something that “didn’t make much sense” to him at the time: Brought Rank in as director of National Advertising for Navy recruiting.

During his tenure, the Navy unveiled the “It’s Not a Job, It’s an Adventure” advertising slogan that rippled across national airwaves in the early 1980s. The campaign even inspired an infamous sketch from “Saturday Night Live.”

“You know you had a successful campaign when it was parodied on SNL,” Rank said.

After 20 years of active-duty service, Rank faced the test of reintegrating into civilian life and passed with flying colors. The mission of the Chez Center has connected with him from the start.

While serving as vice president of membership and marketing at the Alumni Association, he was brought into an ad hoc committee to address the vision of Chez, then known as the Center for Wounded Veterans in Higher Education.

“The intent was it would be much like (Disability Resources and Educational Services) was for the World War II Vets. It would accommodate severely, profoundly injured military veterans who wanted to come back to college.”

The technology of war has changed and casualties have decreased. As that cohort of seriously injured Veterans of college age dried up, the question was how to transform the center’s mission.

Like DRES, Chez has morphed its service to apply to a wider range of students and staff. On the advisory committee, the word “wounded” was eliminated from the title, as Chez became a one-stop shop for campus folks with military connections.

“Originally, it was a welcoming cocoon for people to recreate that military atmosphere and camaraderie. But in reality, the whole idea is to get people comfortable enough with the university and the civilian environment and push them out, get them involved in their major,” Rank said.

“The idea is not to segregate them into a pseudo military unit, but get them comfortable with what they’re going to experience in civilian life.”

Rank’s support of the Chez Center is multifaceted, as both a donor and member of its advisory board.

“He’s a great sounding board for me,” Bender said. “He’s been a part of this project since the very beginning.”

“He’s a great supporter of us, of the Veterans, and of the university at large.”

Editor’s note:

To reach Ethan Simmons, email ecsimmon@illinois.edu.

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Warrior-Scholar Project shows Veterans college is within reach

Aug. 08, 2022 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo

Chez Veterans Center hosts program to give service members a bridge from the battlefield to the classroom

The Warrior-Scholar Project aims to build service members’ confidence to pursue four-year undergraduate programs. Visiting veterans stopped by the Memorial Stadium field at Illinois.

For Tizoc Rubio, the prospect of college seemed far-fetched. Then he happened upon the Warrior-Scholar Project.

“When you’re enlisted, you’re kind of bottom of the barrel. And you’re of that mindset that you’re not meant for much, you know?,” said the Air Force airman.

But Rubio, who is still on active duty as a cyber systems operator stationed at Eglin Air Force Base in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., knew the military would not be his career, and that he wanted to study nursing. He searched the Internet for “veterans going to Ivy Leagues” and found the Warrior-Scholar Project. The program aims to build service members’ confidence to pursue and complete four-year undergraduate programs at elite colleges and universities by orienting students to the challenges facing student-veterans as they transition from military service to college.

The Warrior-Scholar Project launched its first program at Yale University in 2012 with nine participants, expanding to 20 of America’s top schools since then and helping more than 215 veterans get a head start in higher education. For the first time, the program in July 2022 was held at the University of Illinois, with the Chez Veterans Center facilitating programming for the week-long training.

“I was lucky that they had a spot here,” Rubio said. “The fact that I’m able to be (here) in person, and take in the campus environment, and actually  feel what it’s like to be a student is just super amazing.”

“When I was a student or a potential student, I didn’t think I had the chops to make it through higher education because I wasn’t that person in the school that made the really good grades and high achiever,” said Anderson, who got his bachelor’s degree at Illinois State and his master’s at Illinois. “But this gives them that one week inversion-type environment where they’re like, ‘OK, I do have what it takes to make it through higher education.’”

The WSP, a non-profit, gives service members a bridge from the battlefield to the classroom. The organization helps enlisted military personnel, those transitioning out of active service, and veterans by providing them with academic training and helping them become “informed consumers of education,” as WSP describes its attendees.

Dustin Lange, assistant director of the Chez Veterans Center, saw the WSP in action at the University of Chicago and thought the program would be a great fit on the Urbana-Champaign campus.

“We are honored to be partnered with Warrior-Scholar Project this summer, as we believe the program can improve a veteran’s overall confidence and help them be successful in higher education,” Lange said.

Count Noah Bishop as one of those veterans. Bishop, who is from Solon, Iowa, enrolled at the Naval School of Music to train as a musician in the U.S. Marine Corps Music Program.

He decided to enter the military out of high school.

“When I was in high school, I decided between going to college and studying music and getting a job,” he said. “I thought it was better to have the actual experience of performing for four years. I wanted some actual, in-person experience with that. I definitely got it, along with the desire to grow up before going to college.”

WSP offers enlisted veterans—free of charge, thanks to donations—a chance to attend one-week, intensive college preparatory experiences. This year, for the first time, the veterans received a $500 stipend to cover travel costs. During the sessions, Warrior-Scholars learn strategic reading and writing skills from university faculty members and instructors; they also learn how to take notes, prepare for tests, dissect syllabi, and access campus resources.

The workshops also touch on life transition skills, called “degreening,” to help service members succeed in civilian life, classrooms, and campus communities.

When he was active duty in the Marine Corps, Bishop, who is currently a Marine Musician and Administration Supervisor, met with a Marine academic advisor who recommended the WSP as a good “stepping stone.”

He said programs like WSP can help veterans decide  whether the military is the career they want to pursue, or if they want to go down the road of academia, with a career to follow.

“I was definitely on the fence. I was kind of like 50-50, and I was leaning towards [academia], simply because I want to still go to college while I’m relatively young.” Bishop said.

Rubio, who is attending the program on a temporary duty travel, known as a TDY, said he was planning to attend the University of Washington in his home state, but that after visiting the UIUC campus, Illinois has “moved up on my list.”

Rubio is planning to leave active duty in about a year, but will be in the inactive ready reserve, meaning he can be called up at any time for four years after he leaves active duty. But he appreciates all that the Air Force has done for him.

“My unit is actually really nice. They know that I’m preparing to get out and pursue academia,” he said.

Bishop, who wants to stay in the Midwest, agreed, citing the services UIUC has for veterans.

“The most impressive thing I’d say was the [Chez] Veterans Center. I’ve never seen anything like that, that level of veterans support. That’s a huge selling factor. The overall quality of the university matters, too. And I know it has that.”

Editor’s note:

To reach Vince Lara-Cinisomo, email vinlara@illinois.edu.
 

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Andrew Bender appointed director of operations at Chez Veterans Center

June 02, 2022 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo

Andrew Bender served in the U.S. Army and reached the rank of lieutenant colonel (Photo provided)

Andrew Bender has been hired as Director of Operations at Chez Veterans Center, effective July 1.

Bender, who served in the U.S. Army and reached the rank of lieutenant colonel, comes to Chez from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Career Center, where he has been serving as the associate director for operations and strategic initiatives. Prior to coming to Illinois, Bender worked as a workforce development manager for the McLean County Chamber of Commerce, and an operations manager and learning and development manager for Amazon.

“I am humbled and deeply honored that AHS has given me the privilege to join the Chez Veterans Center team,” Bender said. “I embrace the opportunity to continue my service supporting the men and women who have given so much to our nation. I cannot wait to come on board and work with the fantastic AHS and Chez team to create a better place for our veterans and military-affiliated students.”

Bender steps into the role that has been served for the past four years by Dr. Reggie Alston, the associate dean for academic affairs in the College of Applied Health Sciences.

Bender also served as the chair of and professor in the Department of Military Science at Illinois State University’s ROTC program. In his time in the U.S. Army, Bender served in a variety of administrative roles, most recently as the Chief of Staff/Deputy Commander of the Joint Communications Unit at Fort Bragg, N.C.

Editor’s note:

To reach Vince Lara-Cinisomo, email vinlara@illinois.edu.

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Chez Center hosts program to ready veterans for higher ed

Aug. 1, 2024 | Ethan Simmons

Apsan Bishwokarma looks over notes in a Warrior-Scholar Project class, hosted at the Chez Veterans Center. (Photo by Ethan Simmons)

While Adam Sherman Jr. sat for the two-hour bus ride from Chicago O’Hare Airport to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus, a pit was forming in his stomach. 

He’d spent six years in the Navy, stationed in Japan and California for three years apiece, sometimes working out at sea for six or 12 months at a time. But a few preparatory problem sets for the Warrior-Scholar Project’s academic boot camp had him stumped. 

“I didn’t know if I’d be able to knock off the dust and the rust to get going in this program,” said Sherman, who grew up in New Jersey. 

After spending four days in the camp absorbing astronomy and physics lectures from University of Illinois faculty at the Chez Veterans Center, Sherman’s first taste of higher education was going “really smooth,” he said. 

“They broke it down in a way that’s really digestible, and they’re building it up in a way where it’s really fast-paced, but it’s comprehensible,” he said.  

This July, 15 student Veterans took classes and teamed up on projects in the Chez Veterans Center, the University of Illinois’ one-stop shop for military-connected students. The center has hosted the nonprofit Warrior-Scholar Project for the three consecutive years. 

The Warrior-Scholar Project, or WSP for short, takes place in college campuses across the country as an eight-day higher ed experience for military Veterans of all ages. 

The WSP and Chez Veterans Center’s missions are aligned—both are dedicated to easing the transition of military-connected students back into education and civilian life. 

“The premise of WSP is really about showing them they can do it, giving them the confidence they can leave the military and go to a place like the University of Illinois,” said Chez Veterans Center Director of Operations Andy Bender. 

“I think what’s great for us in particular is (WSP) follows our mission. We’re all about the successful transition from the military into higher education—this is a good steppingstone for it. But it also gets a lot of our campus partners who may not have connections to the military to come and meet these students.” 

WSP Education Programs Coordinator Rebecca Mills called Illinois’ Chez Veterans Center one of the program’s “top campus stakeholders,” for going “above and beyond” for student cohorts. A core component for both organizations: Showing Veterans that the talents they’ve built in the service are transferable to the classroom.

“It’s less the content—we know they’re capable, we know they have the experience. But how do they use the skills they developed in the military to be successful in higher ed?” Mills said. 

Warrior-Scholar Project student-veterans chat during a tour of Hourglass Medical in Illinois Research Park, alongside Chez Veterans Center staff.
A whopping 88 percent of Warrior-Scholar Project alumni have either obtained a college degree or are on track to complete one (Photo by Ethan Simmons)

Some students, such as Sherman, enter the Warrior-Scholar Project with no college credits. Others, such as Sergio Perez Jr., a 26-year-old Marine Corps veteran from Oklahoma, used WSP to re-familiarize himself with the pace of university life.  

When he left the service in October 2023, he “had one goal in mind: and that was to go back and finish my degree,” he said. 

“For me, WSP was a ‘two birds with one stone’ type of deal, because University of Illinois was actually one of the schools I’m thinking about applying to in the future,” Perez added. “When I saw they still had openings for this, I thought, ‘You know what? I can do a quick campus tour while still self improving.’ So this has given me a better understanding of how this campus functions.”

A whopping 88 percent of Warrior-Scholar Project alumni have either obtained a college degree or are on track to complete one, according to their internal statistics. This year, Illinois also hosted WSP’s annual alumni conference, where bootcamp graduates return to network and listen to industry professionals with military connections. 

A Veteran careers panel discussion included Mona Dexter, Comcast’s vice president of Military and Veteran Affairs; Michael Pett, Uber’s head of Military and Veteran Programs at Uber; Erica Jeffries Purdo, vice president of Strategy and Operations at Johnson & Johnson; and Tommy Jones, senior director of Military and Talent Programs at Walmart. 

During the campus visit, the student cohort got to tour Research Park businesses such as Caterpillar’s Innovation Center and Hourglass Medical, a wearable technology company. Before they left campus, Chez staff brought them to a celebratory visit to the Colonnades Club in Memorial Stadium, itself a tribute to U. of I. veterans who fought in World War I. 

“Illinois might be one of the best-kept secrets in higher ed; You walk into a building and learn about a Nobel prize winner who invented something you use every day,” Bender said. “We’ve had a couple people who’ve told us, ‘I wanna come here.’”

Editor’s note:

To reach Ethan Simmons, email ecsimmon@illinois.edu.
 

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University of Illinois designated as Purple Heart university

Oct. 15, 2021 | Vince Lara-Cinisomo

The Chez Veterans Center at Illinois serves more than 550 military-connected students

(from left) Dean Cheryl Hanley-Maxwell, Chancellor Robert Jones and Chez’s Garrett Anderson

The University of Illinois was designated Friday as a Purple Heart university, awarded the honor because of the university’s longstanding commitment to military veterans.

“This university has a tradition unlike any other that goes far beyond just remembering those who lost their lives in service,” Chancellor Robert Jones said. “This has been a place of world-changing ideas, innovations and, sometimes just plain old hard-headed determination to help those who come home to find success in their educational hopes and to lead lives and careers of impact after they earn their degree.”

Illinois was the first university to call for compulsory military training at all land grant colleges, as part of the Morrill Act of 1862, and developed the first post-secondary disability support service program in the world for Veterans. Established by Dr. Tim Nugent, this program allowed injured World War II veterans to use their GI Bill benefits for higher education.

In 2015, UIUC opened the doors at the Chez Veterans Center to provide an open, welcoming space for all student veterans and military-connected communities.

“During my tenure as dean of the College of Applied Health Sciences, I have had many opportunities to feel proud of leading such an outstanding unit. Today, that pride deepens with this truly humbling recognition by the Military Order of the Purple Heart,” said AHS Dean Cheryl Hanley-Maxwell.

“The commitment of this college and this university to helping wounded veterans pursue their degrees goes back more than 70 years, when Dr. Timothy Nugent established the very first support program in higher education for World War two veterans with disabilities. At a time when people in wheelchairs were not expected or encouraged to attend college and dream of careers, Dr. Nugent said, “Why not?”’

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The Chez Veterans Center is the largest, most comprehensive facility of its kind in the United States, and serves more than 550 military-connected students.

“AHS continues to be the unwavering force pushing us forward to do more and to find new and better ways to open doors of access and success to the student-veterans who trust this university with their academic futures,” Chancellor Jones said.

The event was well-attended and VIPs included Matt Janes from the office of Congressman Rodney Davis; State Senator Scott Bennett; State Senator Chapin Rose; State Representative Mike Marron; State Representative Brad Halbrook, Champaign Mayor Deborah Frank Feinen, members of the Chez Veterans Center advisory board, and members of the Veterans Assistance Commission and Department of Veterans Affairs.

Editor’s note:

To reach Vince Lara-Cinisomo, email vinlara@illinois.edu.
 

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College of Applied Health Sciences
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