VA Secretary Sits Down with UC San Diego Student Veterans

In a powerful show of comprehensive support for student veterans, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Doug Collins visited UC San Diego to engage directly with military-connected students, listening to their experiences in a candid roundtable discussion.

Secretary Collins, alongside UC San Diego Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Campus Life Alysson M. Satterlund, participated in a compassionate and insightful conversation with eight student veterans. The conversation ranged from personal journeys to systemic challenges, providing students a rare opportunity to interact directly with the nation’s top VA official.

Following an open dialogue with students, Secretary Collins reflected on the stories he heard and the Department’s broader mission to support those pursuing education after service.

“Reforming VA so it works better for veterans starts with hearing from beneficiaries about what works well and what needs improvement,” said Secretary Collins. “That’s what my visit with UC San Diego student veterans was all about.”

“We are deeply appreciative of Secretary Collins’ willingness and intent to actively engage with our students,” said Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla. “Military-connected students and their families’ unique pathways to and through higher education are made possible by the programs the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has championed and Congress has funded on a bipartisan basis for decades. Their work ensures that each of our military-connected students can access all of the benefits they have earned through their service in uniform.”

UC San Diego combines world-class academics with a charge to support our military-connected students. The university recently ranked No. 6 among public universities in the nation for serving veterans and active-duty service members pursuing a college education, like aerospace engineering major John Sigafoos, a corporal in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, who balances life as a student, a reservist and a father of two young children.

“UC San Diego honors the pathways that our veteran scholars have taken in their academic journeys, knowing it is foundational to who they are as Tritons and future alumni,“ said Satterlund. “We truly value UC San Diego’s collaborative partnership with the Veterans Administration, as it is critical to our veteran scholars’ holistic success.”

UC San Diego Student Veterans Resource Center (SVRC) Director Nat Kapp said that the students were very grateful for the opportunity to engage with the secretary. “I could tell the story of my student who was shuttled around from caretaker to caretaker, but it doesn't mean the same thing coming secondhand,” Kapp said. “The students were candidly representing themselves, and I’m glad that they gave us that opportunity to have those conversations.”

Said Kapp, “It was important to have one of the world leaders in veteran support visit and acknowledge that UC San Diego is a place where they are taking care of veterans.”