When visiting the Adult Learner and Veteran Services office in the Lory Student Center, you will notice tables of students socializing and enjoying fresh coffee from the maker in the corner, and may wonder what this part of CSU does to serve our students.
“It truly embodies community,” said ALVS Director Marc Barker. “We don’t check your ID at the front to make sure you’re an adult; anyone is welcome here.”
With Veterans Day quickly approaching, ALVS is working on a number of events to celebrate those at Colorado State University and beyond.
On Nov. 3, CSU held the annual Veterans Day 5K, started on the Oval. All proceeds go to the CSU Veterans Scholarships fund.
National Roll Call, an event to honor those fallen in service, will take place on the morning of Nov. 9 at the Sutherland Sculpture Garden at the Lory Student Center. CSU has participated in National Roll Call since its inception.
Finally, ALVS will host the Military and Veteran Appreciation Ball on Nov. 10 at Canvas Stadium. The event will begin at 7 p.m. and feature live music.
ALVS has been an official organization at CSU since 2009. The office has created programs such as Rams Kidz Village, which allows adult students to drop off their kids for supervised care in the library. Another program, Elevate, runs over the summer to reintroduce students to the basics before coming back to school.
“The underlying goal is to connect (student veterans) to the CSU community,” said Barker.
CSU is frequently commended for being a great school for adult students and veterans – it was ranked as the No. 1 Best for Vets college in Colorado by Military Times for 2019 – and ALVS is doing amazing work to ensure that continues to be the case. Barker is happy to explain that an important cornerstone of that success is what he calls a “values approach” that helps veterans live up to university standards such as the Principles of Community in the same way they lived by the pledges of their various branches of service.
