• $1,315 RAISED
  • 12 DONORS

HONOR ROLL

  • Robin Bott $100.00
  • Joseph Brophy $100.00
  • Stephen & Kelley Foerster/Leonard $200.00
  • Anonymous $25.00
  • Wendy Osika $100.00
  • Robin Smith $100.00
  • Delores Melin $40.00
  • Mary-Jo Lacey $100.00
  • Anonymous $100.00
  • Jon Walker $100.00
  • Hamen Metheny $250.00
  • Mary-Jo Lacey $100.00

Support Scholarships for Veterans

According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA, 2018), roughly 50% of post 9/11 service members who need treatment for mental health conditions seek it, and only 50% of those veterans receive adequate care. There is a corresponding national shortage of social workers and other mental health professionals who are specially trained to serve veterans, specifically those who have been exposed to the trauma of war. Many veterans, especially those who have served in combat, prefer to work with therapists who have also served in the military.

The School of Social Work at Michigan State University is actively addressing these needs through the creation of the Combat Veterans Certificate for MSW students and human service professionals that was launched Summer 2018, the first and only of its kind in the country. However, most veterans use their GI Bill® to fund their undergraduate degree, leaving them with little financial assistance if they wish to continue in a graduate program.

Give to the MSU School of Social Work and help veterans earn an MSW so they can better serve other veterans.

As such, the School of Social Work has established an MSW Veterans Scholarship fund to support veterans during their graduate study. This scholarship is only for veterans who wish to earn an MSW in order to better serve other veterans and completing the Combat Veterans Certificate is required.

Timothy Frasier and Rudy Verbos are the first recipients of the MSW Veterans Scholarship, awarded Fall 2022, funded through the Arlene Brophy Reeves and Larry W. Reeves Combat Veterans Fellowship in the School of Social Work, and donors like you.

Timothy Frasier has been serving in the active component of the Michigan Air National Guard since 2013, and is currently based at the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center.

I chose to enroll in MSU’s MSW Combat Veterans Certificate (CVC) program as a means to posture me to fight the stigmatization of seeking mental health care in military and veteran health systems. I have seen firsthand how system shortfalls have impacted current military and veterans access to mental health care. The MSW Veterans Scholarship will supplement the education required to allow me to advocate, destigmatize, and bring down the barriers of the systems for veterans and military seeking mental health services.

Rudy Verbos served in the U.S. Army from 2012-2015 with the 3-15 Infantry in the 3rd Infantry Division. 

I chose MSU’s Master of Social Work Program because of the Combat Veterans Certificate (CVC), as it is the only one of its kind that deals specifically with combat trauma. I wanted the knowledge [the CVC] will provide me with because I have seen the impact of war on my fellow infantrymen and their families. The MSW Veterans Scholarship will help me with the costs of gaining the education necessary to help veterans of all ages and conflicts.

By supporting the MSW Veterans Scholarship you will help alleviate the burden that our military veteran MSW students take on when going to graduate school. This award will help them with tuition and fees, purchase of books and supplies needed for class, and living expenses.

GI Bill® is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). More information about education benefits offered by VA is available at the official U.S. government Web site at https://www.benefits.va.gov/gibill

Make a Gift by Mail:

University Advancement
Spartan Way
535 Chestnut Road, Room 300
East Lansing, MI 48824

*Make check payable to Michigan State University and write “Appeal 24OOPCF1CVCPVD” in the note section.

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