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Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Do HBCUs Overlook The Veteran Community?

Educational funding for veterans and their families members are often overlooked by Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Since I have been writing about men and women of color who serve our country, I have noticed a trend that often one generation or two are unaware of a family member’s military service. The unawareness of a person’s military service also extends to the community as well. The lives of our military members are filled with many stories of sacrifice and hardship that comes with the courage to serve bravely. 

Montford Point Marines
There are few true rewards that can be given to our military who chooses to risk their lives for our freedoms we enjoy. But there are many benefits that come with their service that we may neglect to highlight that will not only improve their lives but even enrich the communities they live in.
Here is some history for us to review.

Original Triple Nickels Paratroopers

 After World War II, the  Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, which was also nicked name the G.I. Bill, was a law passed that provided many benefits for returning World War II veterans. The benefits included low-cost mortgages, low-interest loans to start a business, cash payments of tuition and living expenses to attend college, high school, or vocational education, as well as one year of unemployment compensation. It was available to every veteran who had been on active duty during the war years for at least ninety days and had not been dishonorably discharged; combat was not required. By the end of the program in 1956, roughly 2.2 million veterans had used the G.I. Bill education benefits in order to attend colleges or universities, and an additional 6.6 million used these benefits for some kind of training program. *


HBCUs saw many Black men and women attend college using G.I. funds. Although not as many took advantage of the funds as their White counterparts, those who did attend college helped increase enrollments at HBCUs, especially in the southern states. The G.I. Bill passage lead to additional laws passed that benefited HBCUs’ students.  The Lanham Act of 1946 provided $100,000,000 in federal funding for HBCUs for expansions and improvements.  In subsequent years and wars, additional educational funds have been provided for veterans and later for family members of veterans.

In 2008, the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008 became law. This bill was unique in two ways: (1.) It covered 100% of educational costs of a public university or college for veterans serving active duty on or before September 11, 2001; and (2.) It allowed benefits to be transferred to a spouse or children. At private colleges and universities, the program is called the Yellow Ribbon program and the tuition is shared one to one up to 100% with the institution.

With unemployment hitting veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq underage of 30 at 21%, it is important for us to encourage our veterans to consider higher education and to use the benefits they have earned to pay for it. For older veterans who do not need an education or is already educated, they are positioned to help their family members obtain an education by passing on their benefits on to them. 

When I share this information with Black veterans of recent wars, their career options and educational opportunities are not addressed within their community nor are they recruited by HBCUs.
A crisis in America usually hits the Black community hardest and has greater long term effects. At this moment, education, and economic plights are being touted loudly in the Black community but often without solutions or servant leadership to lead the charge make lasting changes. But in the Black veteran community, there is historical proof that veteran educational benefits, veteran business ownership, and military leadership knowledge can be used to transform a community and strengthen the Black Middle Class. The G.I. Bill help increased Black college attendance from 1% in the 1940s to almost 4% a decade later throughout the US. That educated Black Middle Class help provide a foundation for the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s.

Years later, the Post- 9/11 Veterans Bill can be an opportunity to educate millions of family members of veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq Wars. Many of those veterans will also become entrepreneurs. With the fastest growing segment of the Armed Forces being Black women according to a Pew Research, this will have a direct positive effect on the Black community in the next decade. But those changes will not happen if we are not more engaging of our veterans and their families who need us now more than ever as they transition to post combat life.


I encourage HBCUs and the communities of HBCUs to become more engage in Veteran Affairs. We often hear that sports and bands make up the core of a HBCUs’ interests. I challenge that notion but recognized why it is repeated. It is time for HBCU communities to look for new ways to engage and look for leadership in places that minority communities often overlook but majority communities turn to first, a person with a military background. Maybe the structure and discipline of a veteran may play to strengths and improve weakness without the wave of emotion that often accompanies HBCU discussions. With millions of dollars that is being provided for veterans’ tuition, this can help bring much needed increases in enrollment at HBCUs. The harvest is plentiful.

If HBCUs do not aggressively recruit our country’s veterans and offer veterans jobs to glen from their leadership experiences, there are other intuitions that will do so without thinking. Educating our veterans and their families to help provide economic stability after their years of service should be a priority for everyone. HBCUs have an opportunity to seize the moment. 

This story  can found in Mocha Market Military Issue and on H.O.P.E. Scholarship

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Thursday, June 20, 2013

USAF Rick DelaHaya on Living Your Best Life with Genma Holmes



Join Living Your Best Life as we celebrate our military heroes' journeys before and after their service to our country. Hear from men and women who are sons and daughters; husbands and wives; fathers and mothers; grandparents; siblings; and loyal friends. Hear members of the Marines, Army, Air Force, and Navy share personal stories and highlights from their military careers. All have roles that made them the "first" in many endeavors throughout their lives and in the military. We will hear about their rarely discussed acts of courage and sacrifice that embody servant leadership that will empower, inspire, and motivate listeners. 





On Saturday, June 22, 2013, tune in to hear from Rick DelaHaya, a USAF's "scope dope" who was the first enlisted controller to ever conduct an intercept over Russian airspace while simultaneously coordinating with air surveillance aircraft and ground control units. Listen as DelaHaya share highlights from working with two Commanders-in-Chiefs, President Clinton and President Bush. Hear him give us behind the scene details of coordinating communications on 9/11 with President Bush and the White House Press Corps from Barksdale AFB.

Rick will discuss life after being in the Air Force for over twenty years and how adjusting can be difficult if one is not focused and have support from family and community. Rick will share about his career options as a veteran and will give advice that is applicable to civilians and career military in transition. Rick also surprises us with his imitation of the Presidents he served. 


Rick will be sharing his post military career experiences on a panel with other veterans at the Warrior Centric Healthcare Training in Nashville on July 9, 2013 at the Nashville Public Library. Ambassador Theodore Britton, Jr. will be the keynote speaker for the event.


Living Your Best Life Radio, radio that empowers, inspires, and motivates you to live your BEST life can be heard on 760AM in the Middle Tennessee Region, on Tune In Radio, streamed live on the web at UStream.TV  on Saturdays from 9:00-10:00am CST and on military bases.


More About Rick DelaHaya



Rick DelaHaya enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1983 as an aerospace control and warnings systems operator. He had assignments in New Mexico, Honduras, Iceland, Saudi Arabia, Alaska, Florida, and Louisiana. In 1991, he cross trained into Air Weapons Control where he was responsible for the flight control and intercepts of aircraft, including F-15, S1-16, F-117 fighter aircraft, B-2 and B-52 bombers, and KC-10 and KC-135 tanker aircraft. He was the first enlisted controller to ever conduct an intercept over Russian airspace while simultaneously coordinating with air surveillance aircraft and ground control units.



After 13 years as a “scope dope,” he cross trained into Public Affairs and had assignments at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, and the 8th Air Force Headquarters in Bossier City, Louisiana. He has interviewed two presidents, the Secretary of the Air Force and numerous Senators during his Air Force career. Some of the news events he has covered and been a part of include the E-3 Sentry crash in Anchorage, Alaska; the return of forces from Bosnia; and the crash of the Space Shuttle Columbia and its recovery efforts. One of the most memorable was the devastating attack against the United States on September 11, 2001, when then President George Bush landed at Barksdale AFB and he delivered the president’s message to the world along with the White House Press Corps.



Rick retired in 2003, attaining the rank of Master Sergeant. He has been awarded the Meritorious Service Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal with one oak leaf cluster, Air Force Achievement Medal with two oak leaf clusters, Combat Readiness Medal with oak leaf cluster, Good Conduct Medal with five oak leaf clusters, National Defense Service Medal with one Bronze Star, Air Force Longevity Award with 4 oak leaf clusters, and Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Award with one bronze star.



After retirement, he held several Public Relations jobs with Harrah’s Louisiana Downs, Fort George G. Meade in Baltimore, Maryland, and Chimp Haven, the national chimpanzee sanctuary. Prior to his current position with Tennessee State University as Director of Media Relations, he served as the Marketing and Communications Director for Centenary College of Louisiana in Shreveport, Louisiana, a position he held for more than four years.



Rick received his Bachelor of Science degree from Florida State University, majoring in Political Science and minoring in sociology. He has been married for more than 25 years to his wife Terrie, who is also an Air Force retiree. They have three children; Tim, a 5th grade teacher in Louisiana; Sara, a junior at Louisiana State University; and Sam, who will be starting his freshman year at Station Camp High School.


Photo credits: John Cross, Genma Holmes, Rick DelaHaya, and USAF





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