A Salute to Brown University

Brown University is one of America’s friendliest universities to veterans.

Ivy Coach salutes Brown University and its program director for student veterans and commissioning programs, Karen McNeil. Brown University, a school that just a few weeks ago cracked our top 10 list of most veteran-friendly colleges, is not resting on its laurels. No, not under the leadership of Karen McNeil. And we’re mighty glad that’s the case.

As “FEDWeek” reports, “Brown University wants service members to apply for admission. The Providence, R.I.-based Ivy League school announced April 22 that it has agreed to the Defense Department’s Voluntary Education Partnership Memorandum of Understanding. The arrangement allows Brown admissions officers to visit military facilities and seek out students who serve in the armed forces. ‘This is a big deal for us, because reaching student veterans has been a significant challenge. It’s not like with traditional students, where admissions officers visit high schools and know the guidance counselors. Veterans who have just gotten out of the military and are looking to go back to school could be literally anywhere,’ said Karen McNeil, program director for student veterans and commissioning programs at Brown. McNeil believes that the agreement will enable Brown to reach out to potential students while they are still on active duty, whether they are just beginning their military careers or are nearing separation and planning to transition to civilian life.”

Ivy Coach salutes Brown University for its outreach to those who’ve served America in uniform.

This is a tremendous arrangement for Brown and it is demonstrative of the university’s proactive outreach to America’s veterans in recent years to encourage them to apply to — and attend — the university. Now, regular readers of our college admissions blog may remember when we were rather critical of Brown’s support for veterans but Karen McNeil, Brown’s program director for student veterans and commissioning programs, wrote in and shared insight into the outstanding ways the university has opened its doors and welcomed those who’ve served our nation in uniform. We are glad that Karen McNeil stewards Brown’s outreach to veterans. She is, in our humble opinion, the most proactive leader of this kind of program at a highly selective American university and we thank her for bringing to our attention the great work that she, and others, do to help make Brown one of the most veteran-friendly universities in America.