UCLA Veteran Appreciation Lunch honors veterans community, Digi Mart USA News (Los Angeles, California): Veterans and campus leaders gathered at the James West Alumni Center for UCLA’s annual Veteran Appreciation Lunch, held on Nov. 5 in the Collins Conference Room. Army, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, Coast Guard and Marine Corps veterans, each with their own connections to UCLA, attended the event.
Tia Guang, a UCLA Air Force ROTC Detachment 055 cadet from Pasadena, led the ceremonies. Guang, a fourth-year biochemistry major on a pre-med track, will serve as a Force Support Officer, a key structural role in the organization.
“Your sacrifice became part of our nation’s story and helped carry America forward,” she said. “You have protected the ground we stand on and the skies above us.
We are grateful for your bravery, your dedication, and your service.”
UCLA Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Darnell Hunt addressed the crowd and spoke to the vital role veterans play on campus. “Your contributions are an important part of what makes UCLA an extraordinary community,” he said.
“Recognizing that means more than setting aside a day on the calendar. It means ensuring that veterans and military-connected individuals have opportunities to learn, work, lead and thrive here at UCLA.”
UCLA has a military tradition dating back to its founding just after World War I ended. The university’s student veteran population grew substantially after World War II, when thousands of servicemen and servicewomen attended UCLA on the G.I.
Bill.
Today, more than 1,200 veteran and military-connected students attend UCLA. The Veteran Resource Center serves as a central hub for the community, offering career development programs in which graduate veterans and military-connected students mentor undergraduates as they prepare for life after graduation.
The center is often the first stop and home base for UCLA veteran and military-connected students, staff and faculty.
U.S. News & World Report again named UCLA the country’s No. 1 public university for veterans, a distinction the university has held nine times over the past decade.
Retired Air Force Reserve Lieutenant Colonel Maggie Dewan-Smith, who has worked as a nurse at UCLA Health and taught at the UCLA Joe C. Wen School of Nursing, spoke about the gathering.
“When you raise your right hand, you’re ready to give up everything,” Dewan-Smith said. “That’s something that separates you from the most vociferous civilian.
So there’s a special bond I have with anyone who’s been in the military; we’re all brothers and sisters.”
Star Manning, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and Crenshaw High School graduate, was named Veteran of the Year at the event.
Manning became an early supporter of UCLA’s efforts to serve the veteran community and excelled as an environmental health and safety manager, working on major projects such as SoFi Stadium. “It was safety first,” Manning said after receiving the award.
“You leave no man behind. That mindset of making sure everyone is safe translated to safety management on a construction site.
My mission was the same — make sure they went home alive.”
Manning will be recognized at the Annual Veteran & Armed Forces Appreciation game on Friday, Nov. 13 at the Rose Bowl, with kickoff at 6 p.m. Tickets for veterans are free, and reduced-cost tickets are available for family members.
The UCLA Veteran Appreciation Lunch was a joint effort involving UCLA Veterans Initiatives and Partnerships, Veterans Resource Center, Aerospace Studies, Alumni Affairs, Emeriti/Retirees Relations Center, Government and Community Relations, Military Science and Naval Science.
