By Amanda Purser
For nearly four complete decades, Vicki Henson has served the Cameron community, focusing her energy on veterans and service members from the very beginning.
Henson applied and interviewed for a position as Veterans Coordinator in 1986 while working as an administrative assistant at Oklahoma State University (OSU).
“Specifically, my education was geared toward working in higher education,” Henson said. “I moved to Lawton for the position, that’s when I started working with veterans and fell in love with it.”
Henson completed her undergraduate degrees earning an Associate from Murray State, and a Bachelor from Oklahoma State University (OSU), before working on her graduate degree in Higher Education Administration, also at OSU.
“I’ve always been the Coordinator of Veteran Affairs — my title has changed a few times over the years,” Henson said.
She was initially under the Admissions and Registrar office, as Assistant Director of Records and Coordinator of Veteran Affairs.
Then, she became the Assistant Director of Admissions and Coordinator of Veterans Affairs after a reorganization of departments.
After the last reorganization, Henson became the Assistant Director of Financial Assistance and Coordinator of Veteran Affairs, which is her current title.
The Veteran Affairs office falls under Financial Assistance at Cameron, and while they work closely together, they adhere to different guidelines.
“The department of Financial Assistance is regulated by the Department of Education,” Henson said. “Whereas the VA office responds to what the regulations are for the Department of Veteran Affairs. We intertwine and operate as one big unit.”
Cameron’s campus is nestled in Southwest Oklahoma near Fort Sill, one of the largest artillery and air defense army bases in the nation. Their collaboration and commitment to bolster the Aggie’s efforts, never go unnoticed.
“We have fantastic local community support of the veteran organizations, and the military support that we receive from Fort Sill,” Henson said. “So, it’s made a unique opportunity to be able to provide services to our campus community, and constituents, and offer a variety of services that are unique in the state of Oklahoma.”
Aside from her dedication to the Cameron community, Henson has served in multiple leadership roles and other positions within several veteran adjacent organizations across the state of Oklahoma.
Henson was the President of the Oklahoma Association of Veteran Coordinators and Counselors, as well as the Western Association of Veteran Education Specialists (WAVES).
“The Western Association of Veteran Education Specialists originally started as a regional organization with 12 states, and then it went to 28 states,” Henson said. “I was President of it twice, and it went National in my leadership role.”
Henson explained that WAVES is a partnership between the Federal VA, state approving agencies, and the school certifying officials, with a vision of collaboration and ultimate customer service.
“The goal is to share expertise with each other so that we can better serve our institutions, the veterans and active military populations,” she said.
The Oklahoma Association of Veteran Coordinators and Counselors changed names a few years ago to the current title of Oklahoma Veterans Education Specialist Association (OVESA), but has remained virtually the same organization.
“I’ve been President of that group four different times over the years,” Henson said.
OVESA recently awarded Henson with the Francie Wright Lifetime Achievement Award, for her dedication and service at the Oklahoma Higher Education Super Conference, for which Henson served as a member of the logistical team to coordinate the major two day event, held on Oct. 6 and 7, 2025.
“Other people did more than I did, but I did play a role in supporting that conference,” Henson said, “and it’s the first time that we have brought together the different entities in the State of Oklahoma, like the business officers, the advisors, the college registrars’ organization, the financial aid, the ones who process veteran benefits in higher education.”
“We had over 400 attendees at that conference, so it was very successful,” Henson said.
The current OVESA President, Angela Coleman, presented Henson with the award on Oct. 7, at the super conference.
“Henson has been a steadfast advocate for military-affiliated students at Cameron University, dedicating 39 years to supporting veterans, active-duty service members, and military dependents,” Coleman said. “Vicki has guided countless students toward achieving their educational and career goals, helping them navigate the path to degree completion with care and expertise.”
Henson was honored to receive this acknowledgment, especially because of the special woman from which the award gets its title.
“It’s named after Francie Wright, who was the first education chief at the Muskogee VA office,” Henson said. “She is an exceptional person in providing customer service and always striving to think outside the box, and to look for ways to better improve services, and what we’re doing for our constituents.”
Henson added, “It’s all about working together collaboratively, in partnership to be able to improve and offer the best services possible to our veterans, and the heart of that award is to be awarded to people who share that vision.”
This isn’t Henson’s first significant recognition for her efforts; she was the recipient of the Bill Pearson Lifetime Achievement Award in the past, which was another great honor by a pioneer in her field.
“Bill Pearson was one of the Regional Office Directors for Muskogee,” Henson said. “He also went on to be the only one from Oklahoma to be Deputy Under Secretary for Veterans Benefits, which was the highest civil service position that is not a political appointee. He did amazing things for our veterans and had an amazing philosophy in that he worked to bring all the different entities together to work in partnership.”
Henson’s busiest time of year is during Fall, specifically in November around Veteran’s Day and the many events she and her team coordinate such as the Resource Fair, Vet Fest and the Veteran’s Day observance ceremony.
The Cameron VA conducts these events to help to share information and make both students and the local larger veteran and active military community aware of the vast array of benefits.
“I encourage people to come, because even though we offer the fair regularly, it’s an ever-changing group of individuals, and information, and the laws are constantly changing,” Henson said. “Benefits are not stagnant, they are always changing. So, it’s always important to come take advantage, and see what we might have to offer, because it can make a difference.”
Henson’s impact on the Cameron community has undoubtedly made a difference, as evident by the success of our veteran students and service members, in part from the VA office on campus and resources they consistently provide.
“I’ve had individuals come to me after some of these events, and tell me that literally they have changed their lives,” Henson said. “They were able to get a disability rating increase because they came to an event that we offered and were able to get something done within a day.”
Henson acknowledged that her office’s ability to communicate with the Federal VA is impacted just as it is for students, due to the current federal furlough.
However, they are still working to assist and connect students with resources for continued success until the federal government reopens.
“This is a challenging time for all of our students; we encourage them to contact us and let us know if they are having difficulties, and we will do our best to work with them on a case-by-case basis, depending on what the challenge is,” she said.
Henson’s best advice to students is to enroll in classes for Spring ’26 as soon as possible, so that they can submit claims, and give the Federal VA a little more time to process those claims.
“Because, I’m hopeful that everything will be back to normal by the time we get ready to start in the spring,” Henson said.
Henson has no plans to slow down or retire anytime soon, even after four decades, and her vast career of service to our community and state, she has more to accomplish and assist with.
“I’m continuing to work at this time. I love my veterans, and I love our community; we’re blessed to have a very special community in Lawton-Fort Sill. So, at this point I am just enjoying serving our veterans and our community.”
For more information on available resources or to learn about utilizing VA education benefits, email the Cameron VA office at va@cameron.edu or call 580-581-2301.