Dartmouth has become the third institution of higher learning to partner with the Posse Foundation as part of a program that aims to recruit exceptional post-9/11 veterans to various top-tier universities around the country, the College announced in early December. The Posse Veterans Program, also in place at Vassar College and Wesleyan University, sends cohorts of 10 veterans to school with four-year financial aid packages and provides support throughout the college experience to ensure success.
The foundation focuses on recruiting students from diverse backgrounds, creating welcoming campus atmospheres and ensuring the success of students in the program, president and founder Deborah Bial said.
Bial said the foundation reached out to the College because of its high academic standing.
“Dartmouth is exactly the institution we want to partner with for this initiative because of the caliber of commitment to diversity and to supporting this kind of non-traditional student,” Bial said.
Many veterans express concern about starting college after service, as they are typically significantly older than the average college freshman, and have had the added life experience of multiple trips to Afghanistan and Iraq, Bial said.
The foundation plans on expanding the program to include 11 or 12 partner universities, Bial said, each with 10 to 12 veterans newly enrolling each year. The total number of post-9/11 veterans is approximately three million, she said.
Chad Rairie ’16, a veteran and outreach officer for Dartmouth Undergraduate Veterans Association, said that there are on average five or six veteran students per class year at Dartmouth.
Rairie said he is optimistic about the program since it reinforces the College’s commitment to veterans.
Because most veterans matriculate at Dartmouth as transfer students, they are precluded from taking advantage of Dartmouth-specific offerings such as foreign study programs and language study abroad programs, he said. The Posse Foundation’s intention that participating members enroll as freshmen will help normalize veterans’ experiences at the College, he said.
Marine Corps veteran Tyler Fritz ’16 said that he looks forward to seeing more veterans on campus. He said that while current student veterans have close relationships, having more veterans to relate to could improve the group’s time at Dartmouth. Fritz said he applied to Dartmouth through Leadership Scholars, a program that offers former marines opportunities to pursue higher education.
During his time in the Marine Corps, Fritz said he never imagined attending an elite university.
“When I left for the Marine Corps, I never thought a school like Dartmouth, or college at all, was even a possibility,” he said. “A program like this could let more servicemen know that a good school is possible.”
The first group of Posse veterans will be admitted to the Class of 2020, College spokesperson Diana Lawrence wrote in an email. The College plans to provide additional advising, resources and support to the Posse Veterans, including support in the summer before matriculation, she said.
