How $12 Billion in Higher Bonds Can Help CA Veterans

By Jason Williams and Angel Fulgencio, especially for CalMatters

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After serving our country in Iraq and Afghanistan, we stood on lab prints, carried field notebooks, and studied at UCLA and local community colleges. We also worked to support the next generation of student veterans in various fields.

The transition from the battlefield to the research lab is more difficult than most civilians realize. And cuts in federal funding make that path nearly impossible for the next generation of student veterans. California has a chance to protect programs that help military veterans make the transition from service to higher education and research.

The transition from active duty to a college campus is disorienting in ways civilians rarely see. We are often older than the average student, have different life experiences, and sometimes struggle with combat-related trauma, including PTSD. Before we got to the classroom, each of us had a difficult journey, with some dropping out of college multiple times and even facing homelessness.

There was renewed hope last year when the White House promised to “treats veterans as heroes.” Support for members of the armed forces getting a college education dates back to 1940 with the GI Bill, a recognition that military service should open doors to college.

Now that door is closing. As federal funding cuts roil universities across the country, many who have served our nation feel less like heroes and more like afterthoughts.

When federal officials froze millions of dollars in UCLA grant funding, for example Veterans in STEM the program took a direct hit. This program, which helps student veterans gain the experience they need to apply for jobs and higher education, is part of UCLA’s Center for Leadership Development in Science. It’s a lifeline for veterans navigating the complexities of academia.

Student veterans participate in weekly training workshops and gain hands-on lab skills by working with trained faculty and mentors from the center. They also gain intensive experience in summer research labs and can become mentors to other veterans.

This program has changed our lives, but now faces an uncertain future. Last spring, funding uncertainty forced a hiatus in admissions. None of those who completed the training were able to move on to the next steps.

This inspired our support for Senate Bill 895The California Science and Health Research Bond Act, a bipartisan measure sponsored by the University of California. If lawmakers put it on the November ballot and California voters approve it, the $12 billion bond would fund grants, loans and facilities that support life-saving medical advances, scientific jobs and more.

This could help preserve the important research we do at the center and the programs it houses despite federal uncertainty.

Veterans do not serve their country to be told what they can and cannot do afterward. We have earned the right to pursue our aspirations. As billions are cut from grants and colleges across the country, federal employees are taking away our opportunities.

Federal officials say research funding cuts to universities are gut-wrenching”wake-up programs.” But we see a government that stands between veterans and their careers.

While the National Science Foundation grant that supports our organization was restored for nowthe legal battle remains unresolved.

This is unfortunate because veterans make academia stronger. Our extensive field experience helps us see solutions that may elude those with more linear academic paths.

Diminishing resources from higher education vets also weakens the institutions that distinguish America. It harms our national interest.

This bond proposal is California’s opportunity to show that it supports its heroes seeking higher education, and the science and research that benefits everyone in the state.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and is republished under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives license.