Graduating Military Veterans Celebrated at Reception

Olivia DrakeMay 26, 20174min
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On May 20, the Wesleyan Student Veterans Organization (WESVO) hosted a two-hour formal reception to honor the U.S. and foreign service graduating veterans and show appreciation for faculty and staff that have aided in the accomplishments of the student veterans.

“There is a huge disparity in the number of veterans with college degrees and an even larger gap between veterans that attend community colleges versus elite universities,” said veteran Marsella Andrews ’20. “These veterans have worked extremely hard to graduate so we wanted to give them special recognition.”

Among those celebrated were Wesleyan Posse Foundation Veteran Scholar and U.S. Navy veteran Ky Foley ’17 and veteran Asad Hassanali ’17 of Singapore.

Foley, who worked as a construction mechanic in the Naval Expeditionary Combat Command and served two tours in Afghanistan before enrolling at Wesleyan in 2014, is a member of inaugural “posse” of veterans at Wesleyan. Wesleyan’s Posse Foundation Veteran Scholars Program offers a four-year, full-tuition leadership scholarship to military veterans.

Asad Hassanali '17 and Ky Foley '17.
Military veterans Asad Hassanali ’17 and Ky Foley ’17 are graduating on May 28.

Posse Veteran Scholar wives Jacquelyn Fought, Sarah Lorenzini and Laura Salazar received certificates of appreciation and flowers at the ceremony. Fought, the wife of Posse Scholar John Fought ’18, works as a department assistant in the Gordon Career Center.
Posse Veteran Scholar wives Jacquelyn Fought, Sarah Lorenzini and Laura Salazar received certificates of appreciation and flowers at the ceremony. Fought, the wife of Posse Veteran Scholar John Fought ’18, works as a department assistant in the Gordon Career Center.
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Andy Szegedy-Maszak, the Jane A. Seney Professor of Greek, serves as the advisor for the first cohort of Posse Fellows. Several Wesleyan faculty and staff were honored for helping the student veterans succeed.

Other photos of the veterans reception are below:

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