Not a Hero and Not a Stranger: Serving Veterans in Higher Education

Abstract

Military veterans face many of the same barriers and traumas as other populations and non-traditional students, while simultaneously encountering problematic-and even contradictory-societal expectations and stigma around perceptions of heroism and trauma. This chapter explores the internalized and externalized pressures which student veterans may face and discusses perspectives which educators and administrators can integrate in their practices and policies to build a learning environment that is responsive to the strengths and interests of their student veterans.