Cal offers class to help war vets feel at home

Cal offers class to help war vets feel at home
Patricia Yollin, Chronicle Staff Writer

Monday, September 22, 2008


(09-21) 16:52 PDT -- UC Berkeley is 7,450 miles from Baghdad - a long way by any measure.

For veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, that distance pales compared with the chasm between military and student life. A new class at Cal is trying to help bridge that gap


"It's a lot different here," said former Marine Mike Ergo, 27, on a recent Friday morning.

Class was about to start. The weekly course, Veterans in Higher Education, unique in the UC system, is part of a campaign Cal is waging on many fronts to make vets feel at home on a campus with a long history of anti-war activism.

"It's about making the transition," said instructor Ron Williams, campus coordinator of Re-entry Student and Veterans Programs and Services.

The class, which has 22 students, explores strategies for academic success, including time management, developing relationships with mentors, and ways to study and prepare for tests. It also looks at concerns raised by previous veterans at Cal and connects new vets to campus and community resources.
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