Western celebrates Veterans Day on campus

Dan First Scout Rowe, a Nakota Indian enrolled on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Montana and a Marine Corps veteran who served on a combat tour during the American war in Vietnam, was among the speakers at the annual Veterans Day ceremony held Nov. 10 on the Western Washington University campus.

In addition to Rowe, who is an instructor in Western's Fairhaven College if Interdisciplinary Studies, speakers were Western President Bruce Shepard; Janelle Marshall, a Western student and an enlisted U.S. Air Force Reservist; and Casi Myers, a Western student and a U.S. Navy Veteran.

In his remarks, Shepard mentioned that there are 139 student veterans on campus and 117 veterans in the WWU workforce. Shepard also noted that last year, for the second year in a row, "GI Jobs" magazine named Western a "military friendly school," putting it in the top 15 percent of higher education nationwide. He also noted that Western was selected by the U.S. Veterans Affairs office as a 2011-2012 Yellow Ribbon school for helping to support the financial needs of select out-of-state veterans.

The ceremony was sponsored by the Veterans Outreach Center, and the post-ceremony reception was sponsored by the President’s Office, the office of the Vice President of Enrollment and Student Services and Veterans Outreach Center.