Kent State named Military Friendly for 10th consecutive year from KentWired.com on Vimeo.

For the 10th consecutive year, Kent State’s main campus has been named a military friendly school by VIQTORY Media, a veteran-run business devoted to helping service members transition to civilian life.

Kelden Del Vecchio, a veteran of the Marine Corps, is a student employee of the Center for Adult and Veteran Services. The CAVS office is a large part of why Kent State earned the Military Friendly title.

“When I first came to school to figure what I was doing I had no idea, so I came to the Center for Adult and Veteran Services,” says Del Vecchio.

Once arriving at Kent State he got connected with the CAVS Office, eventually becoming an employee with the organization that helped him find his footing. “Through the CAVS office we offer support to veterans.”

In order to receive Military Friendly status, a university must meet benchmarks set by VIQTORY and the Department of Veterans Affairs, including criteria like on-campus support resources and financial aid.

Sarah Helmick, the Associate Director of the CAVS and a Veterans Affairs certifying official, says the status they earned is very important to those on campus dedicated to helping former service members assimilate. The transition to school can be difficult for some according to Helmick, but the CAVS Office has students’ backs.

“We find many times our military students are used to a very regimented way of doing things and when they come here it’s very free-formed,” Helmick said, “so we are happy to help direct them to their net steps and things that they need to get started or maintain their status here.”

Kent State is currently the only public top tier Military Friendly school in northeast Ohio, an impressive accomplishment for the CAVS team. “We’re very proud of that distinction because we work hard to make sure that all of our military connected students,” Helmick said, “whether they’re veterans themselves, the spouse or the dependent of a veteran that they have all of the services that they need here at the institution.”