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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
November 10, 2020

CONTACT:
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Media Relations Office
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415-788-1000, Ext. 101
 

���鴫ý Veterans Resource Center Celebrates 10th Anniversary and Serves Largest Veteran Student Population in the State

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - ���鴫ý (���鴫ý) enrolls more veterans than any other community college in the state. The fact that more than 1,000 veteran students choose to attend ���鴫ý each semester can be attributed to the College’s long-standing history providing individualized, extensive wrap-around services to this unique community through the Veterans Educational Transition Services (VETS) Office and the Walter S. Newman Veterans Resource Center (VRC), both of which are celebrating their 10th anniversary. Thanks to the addition of program leaders like U.S. Marine Corps Veteran Lance Corporal Brian Vargas, a recent UC Berkeley graduate, veteran students can more easily transition into student life.

“Veterans face a host of intense, unique challenges when it comes to succeeding in higher education,” says Vargas, manager of the VETS office and the Walter S. Newman VRC. “Giving veterans guidance, and helping them tap into those skill-sets that were engrained while serving in the military — such as discipline, time-management, and team-building — helps these students succeed in the classroom.”

Under the leadership of Dr. Mandy Liang, the Interim Dean of Completion & Retention Programs, ���鴫ý has taken a renewed approach to how the department works with students so it can broaden its impacts. In addition to the specialized academic counseling and other supportive services that Veterans Services provide, the department has partnered with the San Francisco Veteran Affairs Health Care System’s Student Veteran Health Program to offer assistance with enrollment in VA health care as well as regular mental health and social work services. In the last year alone, ���鴫ý has created two new full-time positions in the Veterans Services Department, including Vargas’s, and is currently hiring for two more.

“Given the unique challenges these students face, the high cost of living in San Francisco, and the increasing student veteran population, it is critical that we continue expanding these services,” says Dr. Liang. “We are strongly committed to supporting our veteran students however we can to ensure they can achieve their educational and career goals.”

Vargas speaks to another critical feature their work affords: access to fellow veterans.

“Ultimately, our goal is to help students find community over their shared experience.” Vargas says. “When you walk onto campus and you’re amongst this intense commotion, being able to walk into the Center and share the company of your fellow veterans is an important support system.”

To learn more about the services that CCSF offers to student veterans, please visit the Veterans Services page.

About CCSF

For 85 years, ���鴫ý (���鴫ý) has been the region’s premiere public, two-year community college. The college is now one of the first in the nation to offer free tuition, providing San Franciscans with the opportunity to access a quality college education and workforce training that leads to university transfer and good jobs. Since its founding in 1935, City College has evolved into a multicultural, multi-campus community college that is one of the largest in the country. ���鴫ý offers more than 250 degrees and certificates and features an award-winning athletics program. For more about CCSF, please visit /.