UMass Global honors past, present, and future veterans

IRVINE, Calif. (Nov. 8, 2022) – The fact that Veterans Day and Election Day fall on the same week this year reminds us to be thankful to the many people who risk their lives to protect our democratic way of life. Veterans Day is especially important to UMass Global, which has a decades-long connection to the military.

Just last month, the U.S. Navy published a story highlighting Ramon Calantas, an alumnus who earned a Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Leadership in 2015 and works as an environmental protection specialist at Naval Hospital Bremerton in Washington State. Calantas served as chief dental technician during his active-duty career, and the Navy article recounted his Seattle Mariners fandom alongside a look at his work for the Navy, which he said is now focused on caring for the land surrounding the Bremerton hospital.

“Environmental stewardship is not about following a program, it is a way of life,” Calantas said in the Navy article. “What we do at work we should practice at home. Its forward thinking; preventive health. The small things we do make a difference. Instead of helping a human patient, we’re helping the planet patient.”

At UMass Global, our origin story begins in 1958, the year when faculty first delivered on-base courses to students serving at Marine Corps Air Station El Toro in Orange County, California. Other military leaders soon took note, and university-level classes expanded to additional installations in the Golden State and many other military sites in North America, even as far as snowy radar stations in the far north. Students could also learn while serving in overseas postings in the Philippines, Japan, and South Korea, or even while crossing the seas aboard Navy ships.

These innovations set a precedent for one of UMass Global’s guiding objectives – to be able to meet students where they are. The actions taken over the decades to serve military students have created a strong foundation of knowledge on how to meet the unique needs of our active military and veteran students.

We proudly participate in key Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs programs benefitting members of the military, their family members, and veterans. These include the Army Credentialing Assistance Program, Community College of the Air Force’s General Education Mobile Program, the Montgomery and Post-9/11 G.I. Bills, the My Career Advancement Account Scholarship, Tuition Assistance, and the Yellow Ribbon Program. More information is available online at the university’s Military & Veterans website.