Higher ed funding for California veterans is under threat. How a $12 billion bond could help

Students wearing black cap and gowns with red stoles, wait in a line to receive their diploma during a commencement ceremony. The photo focuses on a person in the center of the line, who's red stole includes green and brown camouflage details to symbolize the U.S. military.

Guest Commentary written by

Jason Williams

Jason Williams is a Marine Corps veteran and a doctoral candidate studying chemistry at UCLA. He founded a nonprofit supporting veterans and participated in the Veterans in STEM program.

Angel Fulgencio

Angel Fulgencio works in domestic violence intervention. He participated in the Veterans in STEM program.

After we served our country in Iraq and Afghanistan, we stood at lab benches, carried field notebooks and studied at UCLA and local community colleges. We also worked to support the next generation of student veterans in various fields.

Going from the battlefield to a research lab is harder than most civilians realize. And federal funding cuts are making that path nearly impossible for the next generation of student veterans. California has a chance to protect the programs that help military veterans make the transition from service to higher education and research.

The pivot from active duty to a college campus is disorienting in ways civilians rarely see. We’re often older than the average student, have different life experiences and sometimes struggle with combat-related trauma, including post-traumatic stress disorder. Before making it to the classroom, each of us traveled a hard road, with some dropping out of college multiple times and even facing homelessness.

There was renewed hope last year when the White House promised to “treat veterans like heroes.” Support for members of the armed forces obtaining higher education dates back to the 1940s with the G.I. Bill — recognition that military service should open doors to a college degree.

Now that door is closing. As federal funding cuts ripple through universities across the country, many who served our nation are feeling less like heroes and more like afterthoughts.

When federal officials froze millions of dollars in grant funding to UCLA, for instance, the Veterans in STEM program took a direct hit. This program, which helps student veterans get the necessary experience for job and graduate school applications, is part of UCLA’s Center for Developing Leadership in Science. It is a lifeline for veterans navigating the complexities of academia.

Student veterans take weekly training workshops and gain hands-on skills in a lab, working with trained faculty and mentors from the center. They also gain intensive summer research lab experience and can become mentors for other veterans.

This program was life-changing for us, but now it faces an unsettled future. Last spring, funding uncertainty forced a pause in admissions. None of those who completed the training were able to advance to the next steps.

That has inspired our support of Senate Bill 895, the California Science and Health Research Bond Act, a bipartisan measure sponsored by the University of California. If lawmakers place it on the November ballot and California voters approve it, the $12 billion bond would fund grants, loans and facilities that support life-saving medical advancements, science jobs and more.

It could help preserve the important research we do at the center and the programs it houses, despite federal uncertainties.

Veterans don’t serve their country to be told what they can and can’t do afterward. We’ve earned the right to pursue our aspirations. As billions are slashed from grants and colleges across the country, federal officials are taking away our opportunities.

Federal officials argue that the research funding cuts to universities are gutting “woke programs.” But we see a government standing between veterans and their careers.

While the National Science Foundation grant that supports our organization was reinstated for the time being, the legal battle remains unresolved.

That’s a shame, because veterans make academia stronger. Our broad, on-the-ground experiences help us see solutions that may escape those with more linear academic paths.

Cutting resources from vets in higher education also weakens the institutions that distinguish America. It harms our national interest.

This bond proposal is California’s opportunity to show it supports its heroes pursuing higher education, as well as the science and research that benefit everyone across the state.

via CalMatters https://ift.tt/oSTfOeE