Adelphi Welcomes Veterans—and Their Unique Perspective—to Campus

As an Adelphi student back in the 1990s, Ricardo Abrameto joined the Army to help pay his tuition. Now, after getting his bachelor’s degree in 1995 and spending 20 years in the service—including two tours of Iraq—he’s back on campus getting a master’s degree in emergency management.

“It’s great to be back, but it’s been an adjustment,” he said. “Everybody here is very helpful, though—so helpful, they surprise me. They even got a military scholarship for me without telling me. I only found out when I got a letter in the mail saying, ‘Congratulations, you’ve got a scholarship.’ ”

Like the other 86 veterans currently at Adelphi, Abrameto is supported by the wide range of programs the University offers military veterans.

“Veterans bring a unique perspective,” said Shawn O’Riley, Ed.D., dean of the College of Professional and Continuing Studies. “They’re like other nontraditional students in that they’re older and often have family and job responsibilities. They’re driven, and it’s not unusual for them to have their undergrad and graduate study all planned out. It’s our job to support them and make sure they have an immersive, integrated experience.”

That support begins as soon as applicants check the box on their application form identifying themselves as veterans. It’s at that starting point that they hear from Christina Wease ’08, veterans’ liaison at the College of Professional and Continuing Studies. She acts as an advocate for each veteran throughout the application process.

As Abrameto discovered, Adelphi also works hard to help veterans get all the financial aid that’s available to them. Many are on the Post-9/11 GI Bill®, which qualifies them for federal aid. State aid is also available. And, as Adelphi is a member of the Yellow Ribbon Program, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will match grants students receive from the University.

“This extra support from the VA often makes it so that veterans at Adelphi have very little to pay out of pocket,” Dr. O’Riley said.

Adelphi also helps veterans keep costs down by granting credit for prior learning, including skills learned and experience gained in the military. This policy helps speed up degree completion and gets veterans into the job market or into higher-paying jobs.

The University works to enrich the educational experience for veterans and connect them to others in the community. The Veterans Lounge in is a meeting place that promotes fellowship and serves as a center for study, collaborative projects and meetings with representatives from Long Island veterans groups, the Northport VA Medical Center, service agencies and community groups. Adelphi also offers speakers series, events, conferences and job fairs for veterans.

All of these initiatives are being enhanced by a new Veterans Task Force, created this past academic year by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion and composed of faculty members and administrators who often work with veterans. The University is also looking to expand the mentoring program for veterans by recruiting veteran alumni interested in working with current students.

“The veterans at Adelphi are awesome people,” Dr. O’Riley said. “They’re undergraduates, graduate students and continuing education students, and they’re in all majors. As a group, they perform as well as or better than other students.”

That success, according to Ricardo Abrameto, is no coincidence.

“The people at Adelphi have a way of letting you know that they want you to be the best,” he said. “They have high standards; you have to do well in your classes in order to graduate. They tell you what is required, and then they help you do it. The mentors and advisers know you, and they go out of their way to help you—far beyond what you’d expect.”