Why Operation Opportunity: Warrior-Scholar Project?
Veterans transitioning to college likely have not used academic skills since high school and have difficulties adjusting to an unfamiliar and fundamentally different social environment. Unfortunately, these challenges often lead to veterans dropping out of college before earning their degree.
The Warrior-Scholar Project is a donor-funded week-long workshop hosted at Yale University from June 3rd-10th to help veterans transition from combat to college. Participating veterans attend courses and discussions led by current Yale student-veterans and professors on topics including:
- Academic reading and writing
- Adapting to changed social circumstances
- Translating skills used and acquired in the military to the college environment
- Overcoming and embracing many other challenges that are inevitably confronted by non-traditional college students, especially veterans.
Our Story
Jesse Reising, after being disqualified from military service due to an injury sustained while playing in the 2010 Yale-Harvard football game, along with Yale classmates Nick Rugoff and Cliff Foreman, partnered with Chris Howell, a nine year veteran of the Australian Army, to develop a program to help veterans transition from combat to college.
Chris Howell, President of Yale’s Eli Whitney Students’ Association, modeled the Warrior-Scholar Project curriculum on a crash course in academics his brother put together for him to help him transition from the military to college.
Instructors:
Professors John Lewis Gaddis, Charles Hill, Donald Kagan, Michael Fotos, William Whobrey, William Sledge, the Yale Writing Center staff, and others.
Course Titles:
“Life with College Students: What You Can Offer Them,” “Academic Writing: Elements of an Essay,” “Veterans’ Strengths and Weaknesses,” and many more.
Show Your Support!
www.operationopportunity.org/donate
Meet the Warrior-Scholars
Come meet the Warrior-Scholars during a reception at Temple Bar at Mory’s in New Haven, CT from 8:00pm-10:00pm on Saturday, June 9th, 2012!
-Jesse & Chris
–
Chris Howell
Warrior-Scholar Project Director
Jesse Reising
President