Ivy Tech to Honor Veterans with Celebration November 9

(Terre Haute, IN)—Ivy Tech Community College – Wabash Valley will honor veterans, including its 200 student veterans, during the third annual Veterans Day program November 9 at 2 p.m. in Oakley Auditorium on the main Ivy Tech campus, 8000 South Education Dr., Terre Haute. The program is free and open to all Ivy Tech students, faculty and staff as well as the general public.

Following a welcome by Chancellor Ann Valentine, Mary Quinteros Tallouzi of the Wounded Warriors Project, will share her experience as the caregiver of her son Daniel who was wounded in Iraq in 2006 while serving in the United States Army. He passed away in 2009. Their story has been told in a book titled Pediatrician Soldier and in the New York Times. As a result of her experiences with Daniel, Tallouzi now works with Wounded Warrior Project and is a spokesperson on behalf of caregivers across the nation. The posting and retiring of the colors by the 181st Intelligence Wing of the Air National Guard will open and close the program. A reception will follow the program outside Oakley Auditorium.

“We present this program to honor military veterans at Ivy Tech who are students, staff and faculty. Additionally, this program recognizes and honors all military veterans of the local community and thanks them for their service,” said Gary Busiere, Ivy Tech Veteran Support Coordinator and a 39-year veteran of the military. “To the student veteran, it is a valued time of recognition and appreciation for service to their country. For the traditional college student, it is a time to gain an understanding and realization of the sacrifices and hardships veterans have endured in the protection of their country.”

In addition to this program, Ivy Tech Community College is approved for enrollment certification of students eligible to receive educational assistance (G.I. Bill) from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. This semester 170 veterans and military family members are using VA education benefits. A new program called the Veterans Retraining Assistance Program (VRAP) now provides the opportunity to train unemployed Veterans, ages 35-60 into high demand careers. A textbook re-use program where texts and support materials no longer accepted for buy-back in the bookstore are distributed free of charge to veterans for reference and background sources or use in preparation for future courses of study. The Ivy Tech Student Veterans Organization currently has 25 active members.

For more information on VRAP, visit the Department of Veterans Affairs at http://benefits.va.gov/vow/education.htm.