GW News Center

August 5, 2009
By Menachem Wecker

GW Student Veterans Celebrate G.I. Bill at Event With President Obama

From Left to Right: Brian Hawthorne, Derek Blumke, national president of Student Veterans of America, Ryan Bos and Eric K. Shinseki, secretary of Veterans Affairs.

Among the 200 people marking the launch of the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill on Aug. 3 at George Mason University were President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, several senators--and about a dozen GW student veterans and staff members.

"It was really a kind of who's who in the veterans' world," says Brian Hawthorne, president and co-founder of the GW Veterans, a chapter of the national organization Student Veterans of America.

Hawthorne, one of about 500 student veterans at GW, was contacted by the White House and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and asked to recommend student veterans and school administrators from the D.C. area to invite to the event.

He attended with five fellow GW veterans: Ryan Bos, Joe Mancinik, Josh McCoy, Robert Persons and Graham Platner.

"GW is fortunate to have such engaged and active student veterans," says Michael Akin, executive director of GW's Office of Government, International and Community Relations. "The entire GW community benefits from their service and leadership, both in the armed forces and on campus."

The new bill pays for veterans to pursue undergraduate degrees at public institutions and offers stipends for housing and books. Private schools, like GW, can elect to split the remaining costs with the VA through the Yellow Ribbon program. GW is the largest contributor to the program in the District.

"These student vets are a prime example of why this is such a wise investment," Akin says.

Also in attendance at the event were GW staff members Kent Springfield, director of government relations; Antoine Hart, assistant director of undergraduate admissions; Megan Keller, veteran services coordinator; and Elizabeth Amundson, University registrar. Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, Sens. Jim Webb (D-Va.) and Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) and former Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) were present.

GW was recently listed on the publication GI Jobs' 2010 list of Military Friendly Schools, which places it in the top 15 percent of colleges, universities and trade schools "which are doing the most to embrace America?s veterans as students."

Read the 2010 Military Friendly Schools list.