MURFREESBORO, Tenn. —
Incredible and tremendous are just two of many words national Veterans Affairs official Scott R. Blackburn said about the
facilities and people connected with Middle Tennessee State University’s
Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Military Family Center.
Blackburn, interim deputy secretary of the VA, toured the
center and had lunch with university President Sidney A. McPhee, five student veterans and others Tuesday (Aug.
8). Keith M. Huber, MTSU’s senior
adviser for veterans and leadership initiatives and a retired U.S. Army
lieutenant general, led the tour.
While in Murfreesboro to learn about the VA-provided
services offered at the center in the Keathley University Center, Blackburn
also visited the Tennessee Valley
Healthcare System’s Alvin C. York Campus. Jennifer Vedral-Baron, health system director, accompanied him on
the MTSU tour.
“This is incredible. I haven’t seen anything else like this
at another college,” said Blackburn, who was appointed to his current position
Feb. 26 after previously serving as interim executive director of the MyVA Task
Force.
After the veterans center tour, Blackburn said he could “see
the passion of Gen. Huber and that of the workforce and student veterans.” He
added it was “good to see the VA so well integrated here.”
“This is tremendous,” Blackburn said. “I wish we could
capture it and replicate this at other universities.”
While touring the office area, he met fellow VA employees Heather Conrad and Betty Struzick and posed for photographs with Delaney Dickey and
MTSU student veterans Darrell Wright
and Daniel Weedon.
Conrad is a counselor with the VetSuccess on Campus program. Struzick is a clinical social worker.
Also, VA sends representatives on every Wednesday year-round to assist student
veterans and their families.
Dickey, a senior journalism major from Nashville and
Ansbach, Germany, told Blackburn she comes from a military family and “tries to
give back” because she understands the commitment MTSU’s student veterans and
their families have made in service to their country.
For Wright, an economics and finance major from Anderson,
Indiana, his role as a student worker is to “try and get them through” the
process.
“Thank you all for what you do,” Blackburn said.
Huber showed Blackburn the MTSU alumnus-painted mural and
plaque for the Danielses on the outside walls of the 2,600-square-foot center
that opened in November 2015, and included a visit by a Blackburn predecessor,
Sloan Gibson, who happened to be a West Point classmate of Huber’s.
Making another impression on Blackburn was the Daniels
Center Veterans Transitioning Home Office on the third floor of the KUC. He met
Shane Smith, employer search agent,
who assists student veterans with finding jobs with companies and recruits
businesses to hire MTSU students.
Huber told Blackburn about “the reality and commitment of
leadership” from MTSU.
“He is giving us about two hours of his time, and that’s
pretty significant,” Huber said of Blackburn.
Born in Concord, Massachusetts, Blackburn joined the VA in
November 2014 as senior adviser to the secretary on VA transformation. In this
capacity, he helped conceive, design, launch and manage VA’s transformation
initiative to provide veterans more consistent, high-quality experiences.
A 1999 Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate in
mechanical engineering, Blackburn served in the U.S. Army. He served during
Operation Enduring Freedom. His father, grandfathers, uncles and both a
brother- and sister-in-law have served the nation in uniform.
For more on the MTSU veterans center, visit http://www.mtsu.edu/military/index.php
or call 615-904-8347.
No comments:
Post a Comment