麻豆原创 has earned a 聽signaling the university鈥檚 growing support for military and veteran students. This is the first year 麻豆原创 has earned the聽Gold聽designation, following聽many聽years聽as a聽Silver聽awardee.

鈥淭his recognition reflects years of intentional work across the university to better support military-connected students,鈥� says Andrea Guzm谩n, 麻豆原创 vice president for access and community engagement. 鈥淲e鈥檝e focused on building stronger support systems, removing barriers, and ensuring students have clear pathways from enrollment through career.鈥�

In addition to our Gold Award and recognition as a Military Friendly Spouse School, 麻豆原创 has been previously designated as a Purple Heart Institution, Florida Purple Star Campus, Best Military-Friendly Online College and聽Military Times鈥櫬� 2025 Best for Vets Colleges List.

Today about聽4,000聽military-connected聽students聽are enrolled聽at 麻豆原创, and there are a聽range of services coordinated through the Office of Military and Veteran Student Success (MVSS) to support them:

Holistic Programming

• An orientation dedicated聽for聽military-connected students and their families

• Expanded student engagement and social activities, which include families and military veterans within our community

• Collaboration with 聽affiliates, most notably Valencia College, to streamline transition for transfer students

Academic Resources

• Peer-to-peer tutoring in courses with high drop or fail rates

• VA Work Study and university academic coaching programs prepare and train military-connected students to provide academic coaching to their peers

Career Readiness

• Industry partnerships聽鈥� including聽Amazon, JE Technology and Disney 鈥斅爐hat provide opportunity and engagement through mentorships,聽internships听补苍诲 career fairs

• Range of workshops, lunch and learns and professional development opportunities

Access to Financial Support聽

• Established an endowed scholarship to provide assistance to military-connected students

• Potential for 鈥渕eal plan鈥� grants, emergency relief funds, tuition and fee waivers, and housing subsidies as part of co-curricular and academic support programs

• Participates in the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs鈥� Yellow Ribbon Program, a tuition assistance initiative for veterans and eligible dependents

Additionally, MVSS聽empowers 麻豆原创鈥檚 faculty and staff through professional development opportunities with strategies and tips on how to best serve and engage with聽military-connected聽students.

A new liaison program has been piloted in the last year, placing an MVSS staff member with VA work study students at the聽Rosen College of Hospitality Management听补苍诲听麻豆原创 Downtown聽to increase support services for military-connected students at those campus locations.聽In聽Fall聽2026, the program is expected to expand to聽the College of Business, College of聽Sciences听补苍诲 College of Arts and Humanities.

鈥淭he support the office provides is some of the most efficient and effective support I have encountered at 麻豆原创,鈥� says聽蹿颈苍补苍肠别听尘补箩辞谤聽Abigail Kost. 鈥淚 have scored interviews from career fairs and connections from lunch and聽learns. The office is also a pillar of emotional wellbeing and has helped me navigate VA benefits and scholarship opportunities. I would not have come as far as I have without the office鈥檚 resources.鈥�

麻豆原创: Committed to Serving Veterans

麻豆原创鈥檚 commitment to serving veterans is not singularly confined to聽our聽Office of Military and Veteran Student Success.

In January,鈥�U.S. News & World Report鈥痳补苍办别诲听麻豆原创 No. 6 for online bachelor鈥檚 programs for veterans.

麻豆原创 is home to鈥�, a nonprofit clinical research center and treatment clinic聽established聽to鈥�change the way post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other trauma-related concerns are understood, diagnosed, and treated.

Led by 麻豆原创 Trustee Chair and Pegasus Professor Deborah Beidel, who is currently聽, the organization employs a unique and effective approach to treatment. A combination of exposure therapy, emerging technology and individual and group therapy sessions resulted in 66% of participants with combat-related trauma and 76% of first responders no longer meeting the diagnostic criteria for PTSD following three weeks of intensive treatment.

Last year,聽麻豆原创 became one of 12 universities nationwide聽鈥� and the only school in Florida and the southeast 鈥斅爐o participate聽in a new Service to Service initiative. The national pilot program is dedicated to connecting veterans and their families with graduate educational pathways in public service and helping them find impactful long-term careers in public leadership.

A partnership between 麻豆原创 College of Medicine and Orlando VA Medical Center聽聽鈥斅爈ocated聽next door to each other in Lake Nona鈥檚 Medical City 鈥斅爀nsures every medical student聽receives training in specialties including surgery, internal medicine,聽neurology听补苍诲 psychiatry at the Orlando VA Medical Center.

麻豆原创鈥檚 history department has been documenting veterans鈥� stories聽as part of the Library of Congress鈥櫬燰eterans History Project聽since聽2010.聽麻豆原创鈥檚 Veterans Legacy Program, which was founded in 2017 as a partnership with the Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration, focuses on documenting the lives of those buried in Florida鈥檚 nine national cemeteries.

About Military Friendly

Founded in 2003, Military Friendly is an organization that measures organizations鈥� commitment, effort, and success in creating sustainable and meaningful benefit for the military community.

Military Friendly Schools strive toward and succeed in the areas that matter most in helping veterans make the transition from the military to school and, ultimately, satisfying careers in the civilian world. Earning the designation shows a school meets the minimum criteria.

Military Friendly鈥檚 final ratings for its Schools list were determined by combining each institution鈥檚 survey responses, government/agency public data sources, and measurements across retention, graduation, job placement, repayment, persistence, and loan default rates for all students and specifically, for student-veterans.

The program, which was founded in 2017, is a partnership with the Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration and focuses on documenting the lives of those buried in Florida’s nine national cemeteries. Through archival research and multimedia projects, the program has captured the voices and perspectives of these remarkable individuals, shedding light on their journeys, and making them more accessible and relevant to a broader audience, including high school students.

Since 2022, the program has worked with聽K-12聽teachers across the state to create grade-appropriate programs focused on research.聽麻豆原创 VLP鈥檚 website features veterans’聽stories and interactive K-12 curriculum materials that any teacher may access, for all grades and subjects including history, civics, English and physical education.

Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Ray Fullard, a JROTC instructor at Edgewater High School in Orlando, is one of the teachers participating in this program. Last year, Fullard worked closely with 麻豆原创 VLP to develop a research project for 10^th-12th grade students to learn about veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan interred at Florida National Cemetery.

Fullard’s students created reports about their assigned veterans. They prepared to present these findings at the culmination of this lesson 鈥� a field trip to the Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell, Florida. This spring, students stood before the final resting place of their veteran, sharing the story of an American who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

Carrying on Their Legacies

Fullard, who served throughout the Global War on Terror, concluded the event by honoring Sgt. Christian Williams. He led the team that notified the Williams family of their son鈥檚 death in Iraq in 2006 and made the preparations for Christian’s final return home. According to Fullard, Williams knew he wanted to serve in the military at a young age. His father, Jack, who retired from the U.S. Navy, spoke of when his young son would go on base and have one of the Marines sign him into the gym. The record-setting high school weightlifter began Marine Corps recruit training in the summer of 1997 and was stationed at Campe Lejeune.

Williams completed multiple tours of duty, with his third tour in early 2006 to Al Anbar Province, Iraq. Known throughout the unit as a strong and level-headed leader, Williams supported various units across services, including the 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance (LAR) Battalion, known as the Wolfpack, emphasizing “the strength of the pack is the wolf; the strength of the wolf is the pack.”

On July 29, 2006, Williams鈥� platoon was stationed near Rawah when a vehicle approached their checkpoint and refused to stop. The driver was killed, but not before they detonated the improvised explosive device onboard. The explosion wracked the compound and took the lives of several in the platoon. Williams was medically evacuated but tragically succumbed to the wounds. The 3rd LAR stood down for two days after to mourn the fallen.

Williams鈥� immediate family, including his parents, Lisa and Jack, and his two sisters attended the event. Williams tearfully spoke to the crowd about paying the ultimate price of freedom 鈥� losing her son.

“It’s really nice to be remembered, to have my son be remembered and brought up again,鈥� Jack Williams says.聽“My wife and I thought that after 20 years, it would fade into history and disappear from the rest, so we’re very pleased that somebody is carrying on an event like this because there are so many who went to war.”

As the stories come to life, the profound impact of war on not just the lives lost but those who remain becomes apparent. At the end of each presentation, the students solemnly place a coin on the veterans鈥� headstone and then speak their names aloud. The age-old tradition signifies those who have visited the cemetery with each coin representing a different meaning. Pennies symbolize a visit, nickels represent training together in boot camp, dimes indicate serving together and quarters signify being present when the veteran passed away. Fullard gently laid a penny on the headstone and spoke Christian Williams’ name.

“To me, today meant bringing it full circle from the time frame that my unit buried Christian Williams out here to now for my cadets to see what the cost of freedom is,鈥� Fullard says. 鈥淎ll too often, we don’t know what we have until we lose it, so I want to make them understand what it costs. So, my part is making sure my young cadets understand who we are and what we do as veterans, the ones that pay the ultimate sacrifice for the freedom that we have right now.鈥�

About the 麻豆原创 Veterans Legacy Program

麻豆原创 VLP is led by 麻豆原创 professors of history Amelia Lyons, Barbara Gannon and Amy Giroux from 麻豆原创鈥檚 Center for Humanities and Digital Research. It started with 麻豆原创 students researching and documenting the lives of veterans by writing biographies, source packets and other interactive learning materials of veterans commemorated at the national cemeteries, six in Florida and two in eastern France. The program uses advanced technology and innovative teaching methods to allow the students to complete these biographies and honor the soldiers whose stories might be untold otherwise. The program has over 250 biographies and dozens of source packets, involving everything from government records to high school yearbooks.

To find out more about the 麻豆原创 Veterans Legacy Program and to browse through the biographies and other innovative learning materials, visit vlp.cah.ucf.edu.